Two lengthy reviews are presented of a series of seven studies, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), on the subject of science education from 1950 to 1975. In "Science Education in the United States during the Third Quarter of the Twentieth Century", Rita Peterson provides an historical view of major events that occurred during the period (based largely on the literature review that formed the first NSF study). She next gives a cross-country view of the practices and opinions of school personnel (based primarily on the national survey that was the second NSF study). Lastly, she portrays a close-up view of what happened on a day-to-day basis in the classrooms of 11 school districts, as reported in the case studies comprising the third NSF study. In "Social Science Education in the United States 1955-1975: A British Perspective," Lawrence Stenhouse reviews the projects while focusing on social science education. The studies are analyzed from the point of view of the context in which they were commissioned and comments on "the picture we get", needs, errors, suggestions, and the issue of controversiality (itself a controversial issue). A brief 6-page concluding comment by Jerrold Zacharias on commitment and funding (titled "The Unscientific American--Some Random Thoughts") completes the volume. (MNS)