SCIENTIFIC LITERACY: TOWARDS BALANCE IN SETTING GOALS FOR SCHOOL SCIENCE PROGRAMS Douglas A. Roberts. Ottawa, Science Council of Canada, c1983. Distributed by Publications Office, Science Council of Canada, 100 Metcalfe St., Ottawa, ON,KIP 5M1. 43pp, paper, free. ISBN 0-662-12533-9. Professional. Reviewed by Peter Freeman. Volume 12 Number 1 1984 January Douglas Roberts of the University of Calgary's department of curriculum and instruction has written this, the sixth in a series of discussion papers prepared for the Science Council of Canada. All of the papers in this series are informative, scholarly works that argue convincingly for the re-orientation of school science programs. Roberts re-affirms the need to clarify the role of science education as we enter the technological renaissance of the 1980s, and he suggests the directing of science education in our schools toward the teaching of scientific literacy. The ill-defined term, "scientific literacy," has been insinuated into the language of contemporary curriculum workers involved in science education. It appears to have originated as an editorial-ization of comments made by Frederick Fitzpatrick in 1960. Since then, scientific literacy has been the rallying cry for educators advocating a wide variety of emphases in science education. In this book, Roberts sets out to clarify these often divergent orientations and then to promote the accommodation of them all. He suggests that individual units in science programs could be taught with different but well-defined emphases. Thus, students would be provided with balanced programs that should prepare them for the future. The objective and timely analysis of the term, "scientific literacy," makes this book indispensable for science educators involved in curriculum development. Peter Freeman, Booth Memorial J. S. S., Prince Rupert, BC.