Scientists are there to make life better - a wave of the magic wand and we have more prolific crops, faster transportation, more powerful computers, cleaner water, improved healthcare, better weapons... that's what science and technology is
for. A servant to the masses, calling up new wonders on demand.
That's the entire purpose of science. When it starts to prescribe, and even worse,
proscribe, the masses turn against it fast. Don't smoke. Don't drink. Don't drive SUVs. Don't have unsafe sex. The last one gets mixed up with what I call "puritan science" - don't eat or drink anything tasty; don't do anything enjoyable.
As for evolution, and before that the heliocentric solar system, your average joe sees them as useless talking points. Why doesn't science go back to what it
should be doing, they say, and stay away from the other stuff?
