How Have Science Communicators Helped You?

Carl Sagan’s work in The Demon Haunted World was what first made me appreciate the role of science in society, and as a way by which to world the world, in a purely naturalistic way.

here are my “thank you’s” –

1. I always hated physics and even failed it in undergraduate (horrible professor and a lack interest are a nasty combination); however, I picked up a copy of Brian Greene’s Elegant Universe out of curiosity. It opened a new world for me and I have, since then picked up other books on theoretical physics. In fact, the more I have read and learned, the more I have become aware of questions regarding Greene’s theories. But, isn’t that the point of the popularization of science? Not that one will necessarily latch onto a particularly popular author, but rather that you will want to read and learn more. Greene did that for me with regard to physics.
2. For evolutionary theory, there can be no doubt … Richard Dawkins and his Selfish Gene. Does anything more need saying?
3. As a psyschologist, I have an inherent interest in the brain and mind; however, there are two phenomenal authors who have written works that made me want to delve even deeper into cognitive neuroscience: Joseph LeDoux and Antonio Damasio. I’ve even had the privilege of listening to presentations by these men.
4. Finally, there is Scientific American, a great magazine that addresses science for a popular audience without dumbing it down.

Mooney and his company are wrong in their accusation that science fails to reach out to the public. Quite frankly, its not just a matter of science not reaching the public, but almost all academic fields. Doesn’t Harold Bloom lament the “dumbing down” of literature? And, don’t the numerous books on linking philosophy to the latest popculture trend (e.g., Harry Potter and Philosophy) speak to the lack of public interest in philosophy? Unfortunately, at least at this stage, America seems to be a anti-intellectual nation, not just an “unscientific one.”

My own father influenced me more than anyone else. When I was quite young, he told me all the competing cosmology theories of the universe when other kids my age were probably getting bible-picture books read to them.

I also remember a science class (I can’t remember whether it was middle school or high school) that went through the history of astronomy with the competing theories of things being Earth-centered or Sun-centered and the position of “The Church”. I remember having fun even back then redoing the calculations of determining the size of the Earth based on simultaneous shadow measurements at the same time in different cities near the equator. This reinforced the concept that it is possible to figure out things without relying on authority figures just telling you how things are. The fundamental premise of objective science.

Bill Nye FTW!

Also, oddly enough, The X-Files. I was always super curious to find out what was hypothetically possible and what was just complete awesome BS on the part of the writers. Sci-fi is great like that, and while I appreciate the authors who lay out all the explanations in their books (Clarke and Heinlein both did this sometimes), I enjoy stories even more if they make me wonder what parts might be possible – and then I go look it up on my own.

My father. He introduced me to the scientific method around the time I started grade school. He was a Humanities professor, but had been interested in science throughout school (I’m on a similar trajectory). His continued enthusiasm for and true wonderment in science was contagious. He taught me that scientific fact is usually more amazing than the explanations given through myth and religion.

This book by Vinson Brown was probably the biggest influence on me before graduating high school. Didn’t do any of the animal collecting, but after I decided there was nothing to study in chemistry (I was 15. . . I know better now :P, but it worked out since I passed my required chemistry but I didn’t like it much), it was one thing that helped get me outside, asking questions about what I saw. Still have a list of some right here (and the good-sized pile of notes I made): why are only yellow wildflowers present in November? why are there no plants with hooked seeds present on a well-used trail (nothing to brush off on, probably)? does the presence of epiphytes deter woodpeckers from pecking at trees? Don’t know the answers to most of them, but since I went on to get a biology degree and got quite a lot of chances at fieldwork in labs and as an undergrad RA I know much better how to find out. Several professors in the UCF bio department get the credit for making sure I learned what evolution is and isn’t, how we know, and why it’s important.

I was very lucky as a child because my parents took us to museums, national parks, and other educational places. There always seemed to be science related books around, but I especially remember “The Emergence of Man” Time-Life series.
I remained interested in Biology and Archaeology in spite of my teachers, but at least they didn’t teach creationism. Steven Jay Gould’s books, discovered in college, made me really understand evolution.
Today, with the creationist fifth column everywhere, I think the first job of every science communicator is to teach kids to be objective, empirical observers and problem solvers. That’s the best armor against BS.

Few here are old enough to share this memory, but I vividly recall how electrified I was by Dr. Frank Baxter, whose science films were shown in grade schools in the 1950’s and 60’s. They included Our Mr. Sun (1956), Hemo the Magnificent (1957), Gateways to the Mind (1958), The Unchained Goddess (1958), and The Alphabet Conspiracy (1959) Although he was not himself a scientist, his wonderful ability to make science accessible to young people made him an icon of the time as the scientist whose clear, careful thinking would lead us to a better world. He was as great a learner as he was a teacher, and I admired him and wished I could be like him.

Three careers later, I got my wish. In my smaller way, I am a science communicator. I travel around giving science talks to children, lively, interactive shows about dinosaurs, or volcanoes or astronomy. The emphasis is on fun and on how science knows, rather than just what science knows. I love what I do, and people have me come back year after year. I hope I’m like a Johnny Appleseed for science, linking it with fun in kids’ minds, and leaving a few future scientists in my wake.

I think it’s truly rare for an accomplished scientist to be able to talk about science in a way that connects with people. A way that makes them care about science.

People like Feynman, Sagan, Tyson, Hawking, Dawkins, etc; their value simply cannot be overstated. Their contributions as educators, inspirers, eclipses anything they could ever hope to accomplish in a laboratory.

Every day I thank non-existant phoney-baloney god for what they have shared with me. It’s changed my life, changes me, continually and I don’t ever want it to stop.

Sometimes Feynman still makes me cry a little but don’t tell the guys in my motorcycle club.

Edit: Venter kind of rocks my science world these days too.

The people who made the biggest contribution to getting me interested in science were Patrick Moore and David Attenborough. I grew up in a village without street-lights – a privilege very few people have – and at age 11 I knew pretty well all the northern constellations. David Attenborough rescued my interest in biology after it suffered at the hands of a very mediocre school teacher.

though pop-science guys like Bill Nye and Robert Krulwich primed the pump if you will

My GOD… er, wait, MY REASON! How could I have possibly forgotten Bill Nye??