• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.2 no.2 s.4
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• pp.1-23
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• 2002

This Article examines the main approaches to the public understanding of science(PUS) in light of the changing relation of science and public. Traditional approach called deficit model recognizes scientific knowledge as a entity, unidirectionally diffusing to public. This View basically presupposes the gap between science and public. Meanwhile, this approach has an aspiration to reduce the gap. So there is a paradoxical situation in the traditional PUS. Public perception of environmental crisis and risk of science has been risen since late 1980's. And the science technology studies (STS) have criticized traditional approach. STS proposes new approach of constructive PUS. Constructive PUS conceives the public to have heterogeneous, local characteristic. This approach has been very fertile both in theory and practice. But most recently, newly proposed approach, so called heterogeneous PUS, criticizes constructive PUS. Main point of criticism is that constructive PUS has dichotomy between science and public, and romanticizes the public. It is uncertain whether heterogeneous PUS can take place of constructive PUS. But this trend has the implication that the relation of science and public is constantly changing.