Ian (investigator)
speaker
15 appearances
2 recordings
1 series
first heard Mar 2014
last heard Mar 2014
Ian (investigator)’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
Hello.
Not at all.
It actually comes from the National Science Federation, which is a US government agency, which has been asking this question as part of its survey for public attitudes to science since 1988.
It asks a variety of science general knowledge questions, such as... Well, actually, Ruth, why don't you have a go at this one?
The centre of the Earth is very hot.
True or false?
And take your time.
True.
Correct.
But don't feel too smug, Ruth, because that was the question that most people got right at 86%.
Now, the wording of the question we're talking about is… Does the Earth go around the Sun or does the Sun go around the Earth?
That's Tom W. Smith from the University of Chicago, which carried out this research.
Indeed, and the most recent research on this appears to be a European Union survey in 2005 which shows only two-thirds getting it right.
And other surveys done over the past few years show that people in India and Malaysia don't do much better.
I don't understand how these numbers can be correct in this modern-day context.
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