Public scientific literacy underpins the political support required both for the successful
prosecution of science in a modern, industrialized democracy and for the
ability of the scientific community to counter opposition e.g. from religious fundamentalists
or animal rights groups. The achievements of science and technology and
the dominance of ‘scientific rationality’ as an approach to solution of a wide range
of problems suggest another way in which science itself might benefit from a more
scientifically literate population (Jenkins, 1990, p. 45).