Cronkite's unusually emotional "Oh, boy!" on July 20, 1969, was not only a reminder of the legendary journalist - and what journalism used to be - but also of a time before science was politicized and respect for it degraded.

The moon landing was a moment of triumph for the primacy of science, but in the 40 years since, its place in society has steadily eroded.

Too many Americans, while vaguely approving of the people who bring us iPods and knee replacements and antibiotics, rarely think about science at all. After all, it doesn't fit into the cable news culture, where all facts are reduced to ideology. As author Chris Mooney points out, for every five hours of cable news, less than a minute is spent on reporting about science.

In fact, a recent report by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press revealed a dangerous chasm between what scientists accept as fact and what ordinary Americans think is true.

Most striking is evolution: 97 percent of scientists accept it but only 34 percent of Americans believe this basic tenet of the scientific method.

Even more troubling: Ideology colors assessments of the science of global warming. While 84 percent of scientists believe warming is a result of human activity, non-scientific Americans differ widely - according to their political affiliation. Liberal Democrats are more likely to agree (74 percent) than conservative Republicans (21 percent). This has serious implications for national global security.

No wonder the Bush administration was able to routinely block the dissemination of truths inconvenient to the profits of political contributors or to the dogma of religious fundamentalists. There was practically no area of government in which scientific evidence was left untouched. The Union of Concerned Scientists has published "An A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science" (www.ucsusa.org) that provides at least 96 examples, from refusing to acknowledge the lack of efficacy of abstinence-only education to the suppression of information about the dangers of working at Ground Zero.

Yesterday also marked six months since Barack Obama was inaugurated and vowed to "restore science to its rightful place" in government-policy decisions. This is one promise he has kept: appointing top-notch scientists to the Cabinet and to government agencies; issuing a presidential memorandum promising that decisions about public policy would "be guided by the most accurate and objective scientific advice available"; promising new investments in scientific research; even beginning a White House scientific integrity blog (http:// ostp.gov). These changes couldn't come too soon; we hope they haven't come too late.

Some environmentalists say Obama is too timid in addressing climate change, but at least he recognizes the value of science in dealing with it.

Meeting yesterday with the first two humans to walk on the moon - Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin - Obama said he was committed to making sure that "math and science are cool again." But the chasm - increased by politics, apathy and religious dogma - has grown wide indeed. It will take a giant leap to get over it. *