But the public's perception of science can be ambivalent and often pes- simistic, Singer acknowledges. To some extent, this fear extends even to scientists. I find that the answer 'molecular biologist' is likely to drive the questioner to the far end of the room. The same attitude surfaces in the popular media. Despite these widespread impressions, Singer does not believe that the public's view of science is totally negative.
Public attitudes are too numerous, diverse, and at times contradictory to characterize one-sidedly.
People are eager to make use of the fruits of scientific research, and many avidly follow 28 OCR for page 29 reports of scientific developments. Biologists and other scientists have also devoted considerable time in recent years to explaining their work to the public. Partly as a result, Singer notes, over 50 percent of all Americans say that they know what DNA is. But the tension between the acquisition of new knowledge and the fear of that knowledge remains widespread in society. On a purely financial level, the majority of scientific research is paid for with public funds.