Image by Chris KP, based on photos by Ed Uthman and MollybobA couple of months ago ANU (the Australian National University) published a study examining attitudes of the Australian community to science. The study by Rod Lamberts, Will Grant and Aaron Martin, is based on interviews with 1,200 people and considers attitudes towards a wide range of issues and interests.

The media release excitedly claimed that Australians are more interested in science than sport and that they feel politicians do not pay enough heed to the nation’s scientists. And well they might be excited. These results support the belief held by many that there is more to being Australian than sport, beer and American TV, but of course there is. There is always more depth and breadth than that which is provided by a stereotype.

Now I’m as big a sucker for an insightful social study as the next person, but it is the details that I find truly engrossing. Hinted at and hidden within the data lie the subtleties and contradictions that together form the truth, in this case a truth that is perhaps always changing.

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