Sir, - It was amusing to see in EL (May 23rd), opposite a page devoted to the problem of enticing students into a career in science, the incredible news that the winning site in the Spin-a-Web competition "actually makes chemistry interesting". The sometimes negative attitudes of the general public towards science and scientists (frequently propagated by the media - witness the coverage in British newspapers of the Prince of Wales's recent outpourings) is certainly a factor in discouraging people from following a career in this area. Subjects such as chemistry are portrayed as not only boring but dangerous. Here we have the shifty-eyed scientists, adding chemicals to our food; there the geneticists are audaciously interfering with nature. All this encourages the idea that science is something from which the public needs to be defended - hardly a step in the right direction as far as "fostering a scientific culture" is concerned.
The "glamour factor" is also important; the realisation that one can make millions in IT (or at least earn a salary that will have one's non-technologically-adept peers drooling with envy) has seen many people bravely overcome their fears of both mathematics and nerd-dom to pursue high-flying careers, leaving sciences such as chemistry looking frumpy and low-paid as well as boring.
Unless a more positive attitude towards science is displayed through the media and in the education system, and unless graduates can look forward to a job with remuneration at least equal to that of their peers in, for example, computer science or business studies, the problem of attracting people to a career in science will not be solved. - Yours, etc.,
Denise Kelleher, Raheny, Dublin 5.