Science writer: Scientists' astounding success rate with research problems they have been called upon to solve causes the public to believe falsely that science can solve any problem.
Facts
misconception - people think science can solve any problem (since scientists have been so successful solving the problems they have been called upon to solve)
reality - they're being very picky about what problems they take on, choosing only battles that they're more likely to win. Even when others assign them problems, they attack the "winnable" aspect of that problem.
Evaluation
The most common patterns on Most Supported are Causal and Comparison / Contrast thinking. This paragraph seems to have both.
There is a misconception vs. reality contrast happening, and it revolves around a Causal Difference-Maker. People think scientists can do almost anything because their % of success is so high.
This writer is telling us that the Causal Difference-Maker for their success isn't just inherent brilliance; instead, it's the fact that scientists can select which problems they want to try solving or can formulate problems assigned to them in a way that makes them feasible.
Goal
To state the Causal Difference-Maker more clearly, it might sound something like .
Or it might sound like the ol' "no causal difference-maker, no effect" answer you see on Most Supported (in LR and RC) -- if they didn't get to pick / formulate their own problems, you wouldn't see that high success rate.