A crisis of trust is looming between scientists and society – it's time to talk

It's vital to improve public trust in science and expertise. But science is increasingly complex, and getting harder to explain. Things need to change

Self-scrutiny is hard, but a crisis is looming and we scientists need to get out the mirror. A casual observer, viewing the landscape of science, sees a place of lofty achievement: soaring towers built on our understanding of genetics, the effortless sophistication of modern electronics, and astonishing fountains of knowledge on every topic imaginable. But all this rests on the foundations that connect science to society, and this is where the problem lurks.

On the surface, science is more democratic than ever - a rapidly increasing proportion of all scientific papers are freely available online, university websites overflow with information about current research, and scientists are increasingly visible to the rest of society. But modern science is full of convoluted complexities, because the world is complicated. And so explaining our science is getting harder.