New study shows one in four Americans don't know the Earth orbits the Sun. Are we better educated on science in the UK?

As a science teacher, I'd like to think so. Test yourself with our 'basic science' quiz

The good news is that 74 per cent of Americans know the answer. The very bad news is that means 26 per cent really don't. (GETTY IMAGES)

Once upon a time people believed the Earth was flat, barnacle geese “are produced from fir timber tossed along the sea, and are at first like gum” and mental illness was demon possession. These beliefs were totally understandable at the time, there was little or no evidence to the contrary. But we’ve come a long way since then thanks to scientific investigation.

Darwin didn’t just wake up one morning after a cheese-induced dream and think “What a brilliant idea...natural selection”. His theory was based on painstaking investigations and experiments, amassing evidence to test the theory.

Any idea in science is tested with rigour and the evidence and conclusions have to stand up to scrutiny. Nothing is published in scientific journals until it’s been peer reviewed and peers are great critics! And accepted wisdom is challenged as new evidence appears. Science never stands still. New techniques test old hypotheses and sometime overturn them. In the last century there was the central dogma, DNA makes RNA makes protein. It fitted all the then available evidence but along came knowledge of how retroviruses such as HIV work. Now we know that RNA can make DNA and that knowledge has been put to great use.

The findings of the survey by the National Science Foundation in America are let’s say “interesting” - or would it be better to say a tad worrying. It showed one in four Americans don't know that the Earth orbits the Sun and only half believe in evolution.

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Copernicus put forward the heliocentric model in the 16th century in opposition to geocentrism. In the centuries since, the heliocentric model has stood up to scrutiny, no evidence has contradicted it or favoured geocentrism. Humans may like to feel that their Earth is the centre of the universe and may choose to ignore all evidence. I’d like to believe that I’m a talented musician but as a scientist I have to confront the reality of evidence, I’m not! There is nothing wrong with belief, it’s just not science and it’s often not evidence-based.

So where do we get our knowledge from? Home, school, media, etc. Parents do their best but they may not be the best informed and have their own prejudices. The media like a good story even if it doesn’t always quite fit the facts. So that makes formal education critical. In the UK what’s taught in science is science but the survey makes me wonder about science education in some parts of America. Are students taught to understand and value evidence-based reasoning and argument? Are they challenged to question their beliefs and where they come from? The survey suggests not always.

But most of the population are out of school so how do we educate these people? Again I think the UK does well. Having taken a dig at the media, by-and-large they do a great job because they too are under scrutiny. A BBC science programme would be slammed if it presented factually incorrect information. Is this the norm in America?

The survey has glimmers of hope for our friends across the pond. 90 per cent do think science has benefits outweighing the dangers and have an interest in learning more about medical discoveries. 30 per cent want more funding for science.

As I write this, I’m preparing for the Cambridge Science Festival in March of which I’m a patron. We’ll have 30000 visitors engaging with science, people from five to 95. We’ll engage our audience in lots of aspects of science and hopefully educate and enthuse. They’re welcome to challenge us and that debate between scientists and the public is healthy.

Public engagement with science in the UK is good and is growing. I’d like to see the same survey conducted over here, fingers crossed we’d do better!