But during my senior year in high school, I picked up a book on relativity and was fascinated. I really couldn't understand it, but I realized that it was something I wanted to understand. I became very curious about the physical world as a result. If we want to attract students into science, we have to relate it to the world in which they live and whet their sense of awe and curiosity. They have to be told not only what we know about science, but also what we don't know and what some of the outstanding questions are.
People go into science because they are extremely interested in understanding nature.
So if an educational system wants to attract students into science, it must give them a sense of the wonders of nature quite early. Q National programs in educational outreach and curriculum reform abound, and yet science and math scores continue to plummet. A The national efforts establish a necessary framework. But it is true that we must interact locally with teachers and education administrations to really accomplish effective change. It's very difficult to effect changes from the top that penetrate down through the entire system.