Providing Information for a Free Society

America was fundamentally changed by technological developments such as railroads, electric power generation, and mechanized factories. These and other fruits of the Industrial Revolution catapulted the United States into world leadership, enabling many to enjoy an unprecedented quality of life in a democratic society.

Today, a new revolution -- featuring computers, telecommunications, and biotechnology -- promises to remake the way people live, work, and interact. To take advantage of the opportunities offered by 21st-century science, we will need the knowledge to exploit and manage new technologies effectively and the wisdom to gauge their effects on the political, economic, and cultural fabric of society.

Throughout their history the National Academies have offered a special combination of technical knowledge, expertise, and practical wisdom reaped from the nation’s foremost scientists, engineers, educators, and health care professionals. Their knowledge and experience have informed and educated the public -- from policymakers on Capitol Hill to parents in local communities -- on key science and technology developments as well as issues that arise when science, technology, and democracy intersect.

National-Academies.org, a web site rich with current and past studies that illuminate important questions and controversies -- with the full text of thousands of reports freely available online through the National Academy Press, the publishing arm of the National Academies that produces more than 200 reports each year.
Beyond Discovery, an expanding series of case studies that trace the basic research behind recent technological and medical advances. Produced through a close collaboration between professional science writers and prominent scientists directly involved with the discoveries, each printed case study is enhanced on BeyondDiscovery.org with an array of links that provide additional information.
Serving as technical adviser for television projects and the news media, helping to assure broad dissemination of high-quality information on science, technology, and health care.

Thomas Jefferson warned that we cannot have democracy without educated citizens. As a scholar, inventor, and politician, Jefferson would have recognized that developing wise and effective public policies -- in a society increasingly driven by science and technology -- requires science- and technology-literate citizens. Today, the choices, promises, and risks inherent in the astounding pace of scientific discovery and application make science, technology, and health literacy ever more important.

Yet we are a nation rife with technological illiteracy. Too few Americans understand the technologies underlying their lives, how those technologies came to be, or what issues they pose for society. Too often our political process reflects that lack of knowledge.

Few people understand the processes of science or engineering, the difference between science as a way of knowing and other knowledge systems, or the essential role of basic research in the development of important applications ranging from enhanced crop yields to cures for childhood leukemia.

And the growing complexity and multiplicity of medical and health information -- from consent forms and health plan documents to online health care advice and medical diagnoses -- increase the need for health literacy.

The National Academies are initiating a broad array of public education and information dissemination efforts. The goal is to reach Americans at all levels -- from policymakers and business leaders to doctors, teachers, parents, and students. Future National Academies’ initiatives designed to provide citizens with the information they need to shape their society include --

Expanding the National Academies’ innovative programs on Public Understanding of Science, Public Understanding of Engineering, and Public Understanding of Health -- including the development of online science curricula as a resource for middle school students and teachers; creating a center on health literacy; and enhancing Beyond Discovery with new topics each year, translations into Spanish and other languages, and video versions for cable and network television.
Broadening the reach of the National Academy Press by creating lay versions of selected technical studies and creating a Digital Publishing Laboratory where multimedia experts and scientists develop new information formats that take full advantage of emerging computer and telecommunications technologies.
Developing a series of professional education seminars for journalists and establishing an annual award for authors and journalists who make notable contributions to public understanding of science, engineering, and medicine.

The National Academies need your assistance to implement their plans for meeting the information challenge. You might consider --

Underwriting the costs for broader nationwide distribution and Spanish translation of Starting Out Right -- the Academies’ practical guide for teachers, day care providers, and parents helping children learn to read ($10,000 for distribution; $10,000 for translation).
Funding expansion of the Academies’ special seminars to enhance reporting by science, engineering, and medical journalists ($100,000 annually).
Endowing the effort to provide “information-rich” online versions of reports -- enhancing them with links to supplemental information such as original sources, related research findings, and other relevant web sites ($1 million endowment).
Funding the creation and broad dissemination of one issue of Beyond Discovery, the series of in-depth articles on the role of basic research in some of our most important scientific applications ($50,000 per issue).

As the defined needs change and our programs evolve, so too will your opportunities to help. To learn about more ways you can shape the future through the work of the National Academies, visit the Giving Opportunities page or contact us at giving@nationalacademies.org. We welcome your ideas, too.