WHAT should we teach about the process of science in introductory science courses? The ‘‘scientific method’’ is one of the first topics covered. Students find the simplified steps of observation, hypothesis, prediction and experiment easy to understand, and teachers find them easy to convey. Our survey of 15 introductory biology books published since 1994 found that these simplified steps of scientific method are universally covered (Table 1). The progression from hypothesis to theory also is covered by 13 of the books. However, this easy, simplified version of science can no longer suffice in today’s complex scientific world. Only a small number of the books discuss more abstract and complicated political and social aspects of science. A mere five books address society’s role in science, three address the real limits to scientific knowledge, three acknowledge that scientists can interpret data differently, and just three books consider chance as a factor in scientific inquiry. Only one book (Mix et al. 1996) acknowledges that there is no one standard ‘‘method’’ for scientific inquiry. Because of the overly simplistic views presented in most textbooks, some students today misunderstand what science actually entails. In a recent survey that we conducted of college students about scientific method, one freshman responded, ‘‘The steps have to be followed in order and one cannot be skipped. . . .’’ The ‘‘old deferentialist’’ position implies that science is superior in knowledge because of its uniquely objective and rational methods (Haack 1996a). It maintains that scientists objectively observe and accumulate true facts, resulting in the progression of scientific discovery. This understanding of science is presented in most introductory biology texts. In contrast, ‘‘new cynicist’’ philosophers say that science never works as simply as the old deferentialists and the textbooks portray (Haack 1996a, b). Philosophers and sociologists of science study science as a cultural and political phenomenon. They believe that science does not progress in such a logical,