The Ultimate Reality Show

Putting the Excitement Back Into Science

By Ellen V. Futter

Kids love science. I know this because I walk the halls of the American Museum of Natural History every day, and I see young people who are excited to learn about the world around them. I’ve watched primary school children gape at the big blue whale, catch their first glimpse of a T. rex, compare themselves to skeletons of our ancestors, marvel at the cosmos—and wonder at their place in it.

But something happens to these budding scientists along the way, and most of them turn away from science by their middle school or early high school years. When today’s young people were asked in a recent survey to name a role model, half chose either an entertainer or an athlete. Parents, as role models, came in third. In fact, it turns out that fully 44 percent of the American young people surveyed could not name a single scientist they might consider a role model.

This is a contemporary crisis that has long-term implications, because both our nation and our planet are confronting challenges that can only be solved by trained scientists working with the broad support of a science-literate public. The problems of global warming, environmental degradation, species extinction, pandemic diseases, sustainable energy, and the rebuilding of the American infrastructure will all require a new generation of scientists and engineers. And the Internet-based global economy will increasingly reward entrepreneurs who are...