It’s a staggering paradox. The United States has the finest universities in the world, and invests more money in scientific research than any other nation. Yet we’re allowing ourselves to fall behind in science education—and behind other countries, like China, in green energy innovation. Meanwhile, most Americans know very little about science, and often don’t even understand what they’re missing—or why science matters to their lives. No wonder we have unending battles over the science of global warming, the teaching of evolution, and whether or not to vaccinate our children. How could the U.S. become so…unscientific? And what can we do about it? How can we make science popular again, or even…sexy?

In this talk, Chris Mooney explains the reasons for the gap between science and the US public, and what we can do to bring these two worlds—both of which need the other—back together again.