> Today, the gap between scholars and the public is probably much narrower. I would argue the opposite. Each field of study has so much more depth now that on

> Today, the gap between scholars and the public is probably much narrower. I would argue the opposite. Each field of study has so much more depth now that on any given topic there is more that a layperson has to learn to be on par. Lay people do tend to be much broader generalists (at least in terms of scientific understanding) than they were in 1939 but they are further behind the specialists.