Whither A Republic’s Scientific Temper

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Public Understanding of Science Blog

Abstract

Exploring the fate of “scientific temper,” once imagined as a civic ethic of questioning, reason, and public responsibility, I argue that its decline has to do with a wider transformation in public life where misinformation circulates easily, myth is repackaged as knowledge, and authority demands assent before it earns trust. I suggest that reclaiming it will depend on building institutions, public cultures, and democratic spaces where people can question, deliberate, and perhaps most importantly, reason without fear.

Publication Date

4-17-2026

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