Why the Scientist Stereotype Is Bad for Everyone, Especially Kids

To many – too many – science is something like North Korea. Not only is it impossible to read or understand anything that comes out of that place, there are so many cultural differences that it’s barely worth trying. It’s easier just to let them get on with their lives while you get on with yours; as long as they don’t take our jobs or attack our way of life, we’ll leave them in peace.

That’s very frustrating to scientists, who often bemoan the lack of public interest in what science has to say. They’re right to be frustrated: all our futures are dependent on proper engagement with science. So, how to solve this problem?

One thing to which I object is the charge that we did this to ourselves:

[T]he problem doesn’t lie with the science. It lies with the scientists. Or rather the myth the scientists have created around themselves.

The author makes several good points in the article, but never backs this one up. Which would have been nice, because I don’t see it as being true.