John Wilkes' article, "Scientists Should Spend More Time Communicating With The Public," is touching but naive. He may have made it from the role of closet scientist to that of teaching scientist literacy, and I agree that there must be at least a smattering of researchers out there with both talent and interest enough to make their work attractive to the poor old layman, but is this really the point?
A substantial part of my income is generated from science writing and freelance writing for a variety of general newspapers and magazines. I doubt whether the reintegration of science into American (or any other) life at this point is much more than wishful thinking. The popular press is generally loath to carry science features, save for those with some medical repercussions ("Okay," editors will say when you submit your proposal, "but can you come up with an angle that'll actually ...
