Are we accidentally teaching students to mistrust science?

lmost 60 years ago Jawaharlal Nehru speaking about the future of India's economy and society observed that it is "science alone that can solve the problems of hunger and poverty, of sanitation and literacy, of superstition and tradition, of vast resources running to waste, of a rich country inhabited by starving people... The future belongs to science and to those who make friends with science." There is little doubt that Nehru's 1960 claim was an exaggeration; nevertheless, now in the year 2020, one could easily conclude that Nehru has been vindicated for the most part, not thinking specifically about India, but generally for all of us.

Vaccines developed through medical science have nearly vanquished childhood diseases. The application of genetic science and biotechnology has led to the development of a rice strain that for the first time contains Vitamin A thus opening up the possibility for significantly reducing Vitamin A deficiency amongst those who suffer this deficiency the most. We have learned so much about the evolution of humans that we can now confidently say that all of humanity is one large biological family.

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W. Cobern, W. (2020). Are we accidentally teaching students to mistrust science?. Journal of Research in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 3(1), 1-2.