In an oft-told variation of the Hindu myth of cosmology, a young boy asks his father what holds up the Earth. Amused, the father assures his son that the world rests on the back of a large turtle. “But what holds up the turtle?” the boy asks. After brief reflection the father says, “A huge elephant.” “But,” the boy continues, “what is under the elephant?”Sensing that he is rapidly losing control of the conversation, the father finally exclaims, “Son, its elephants all the way down from there!”
I often hear similarly disconcerting explanations about the “cosmology” of the modern world. If one asks a new owner how his or her home computer works, one is likely to hear: “You plug it in, push the ‘on’ button, and it’s microchips from there on down.” Hey! dats been my response as well! stupid me huh??? 
Apathy about science and technology seems especially rampant among my fellow
Human Beings. A fraction of adults understand that the Earth orbits the sun yearly, only a few can define DNA or that know what a molecule is and fewer even know about global warming and fewer even care to do anything about it! Not saying dat I have all the answers! ignorant me! foolish me!
The great irony, of course, is that as much as any other on Earth, the Indian economy and our attendant standard of living are based on a foundation of rapid scientific advances. Today we take for granted that skyscrapers do not collapse; that satellites in geosynchronous orbit allow us to communicate near instantaneously with others around the world; that a vast electric power grid faithfully delivers energy to millions of homes; that medical devices function for years within our bodies; and that a trillion dollars [I say $$'s coz we're all in love with the greenbacks!] in electronic transactions are flawlessly entered into millions of individual accounts each day.
Why is it that such scientific achievements are increasingly taken for is granted? While occasional failures are subject to intense public criticism? A portion of the problem is due to the fact that there is still widespread scientific illiteracy even among those who hold
high-level decision-making positions. For example – lets not talk about our Indian Politicians - even in the US of A, only a handful of members in the U.S. House of Representatives have a science or engineering background.
I shudder at the thought of how ignorant and uneducated some of our Indian Politicians are!! Here we are, where our politicians only concern is fighting religious battles, breaking down mosques and churches and not to mention filling up their bank accounts with our money!
Keep in mind that these are the people who must make the decisions regarding automobile pollution standards, approval of a space program and developments in bioengineering such as the possibility of human cloning, stem cell research. Most importantly, remember that it is WE who put these power hungry, money making, whoremongers, and uneducated, blundering twits in the ultimate seat of power! Anyway, that’s another matter altogether.
Living as we do in a “sound bite” world, scientists and engineers must learn to communicate far more effectively with lay audiences. In my opinion, this remains the greatest shortcoming of most scientists and engineers today. The time has arrived for scientists to come down from their Ivory Tower and enter the arena of real world debate, bubbling controversy, and-brace themselves-politics. It is no longer viable to place their candle under a bushel.
At best we will find ourselves in darkness, and at worst every bushel will go up in flames. We must prepare future scientists to present information in almost every forum from college meetings to state level debates.
If we continue to put our trust solely in the primacy of logic and technical skills, we will lose the contest for the public’s attention-and in the end, both the public and the scientific and technical communities will be the losers. If, on the other hand, we become more adept at explaining science and technology, while at the same time encouraging more “rocket science for Dummies,” our future will be bright indeed.
