The Government launchs its’ Science: So What? So Everything campaign today.

According to the press release, Science: So What? So Everything, aims to show people how science benefits them in their everyday lives, is crucial in strengthening the UK economy and is vital to meeting some of the major challenges of our time. The aim is to create a more science literate society, highlighting the science and technology based industries of the future.

The campaign builds on work started by the Government’s Science and Society Consultation in 2008 and picks up on themes provided in responses to it, which include calls for greater communication on the benefits of science from scientists, business and Government to create a scientifically aware society that understands its value and is able to debate scientific developments.

The campaign will build momentum around a series of events and milestones throughout the year including National Science and Engineering Week in March and regional science festivals.

Although public confidence in science is growing, more than half of respondents to last year’s Public Attitudes to Science Survey thought that science was too specialist for most people to understand with a high proportion excluding themselves for not being ‘clever enough to understand it’.