In this review of the published literature in English on the concept of scientific literacy the net is cast wider than just the professional science education community and the diverse works on scientific literacy are brought together in an interpretative synthesis of this literature. Scientific literacy is first placed in an historical context and a number of different factors that influence interpretations of this concept are discussed thereafter. These factors include the number of different interest groups that are concerned with scientific literacy different conceptual definitions of the term the relative or absolute nature of scientific literacy as a concept different purposes for advocating scientific literacy and different ways of measuring it. The overview yields a fuller understanding of the various factors that contribute to the concept of scientific literacy and makes clear the relationships between these factors.