[Mb-civic] The Multiple Meanings of Public Understanding: Why Definitions Matter to the Communication of Science - Michael Nisbet

[George R. Milman]

The Multiple Meanings of Public Understanding: 


Why Definitions Matter to the Communication of Science


Matthew Nisbet
April 28, 2005 


Scientists, advocates, and policymakers frequently cite the "public
understanding of science," but rarely ever carefully define the term,
leaving me to wonder what is exactly meant when the phrase is used to
diagnose social problems, characterize institutional initiatives, or
describe entire organizations. 

Sometimes the term is used to issue a call to arms in a political conflict.
If the public only better understood the science involved, the controversy
would likely go away. A scientist quoted in a recent
<http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june05/creation_3-28.html> PBS
NewsHour report on Intelligent Design, characterizes the challenge to
science in typical fashion: "Part of it is a failure to really understand
the scientific process. Unfortunately, the United States falls far behind in
terms of our scientific appreciation and scientific understanding." 

Institutions frequently use the term to describe their public outreach
activities. A recent
<http://inismor.ucd.ie/%7Enstokes/media/Irish_Times_Nov11.htm> Irish Times
article chronicled the efforts of scientists at University College Dublin to
stage a "main foray into public understanding of science" by sponsoring a
contest among university researchers to successfully explain their work to
an audience of the lay public. "We are trying to reach the public and get
science out to a wider audience," Annette Forde, a biochemist told the Irish
Times. "You have to communicate with the public and business community and
let them know how their tax money is being spent on research." 

Highly visible and media savvy scientists are labeled by other scientists
and by journalists as champions of public understanding. Richard Dawkins,
for example, holds the grand (and rather long) title of Charles Simonyi
Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.
Physicist Lawrence Krauss and the late astronomer Carl Sagan are noted for
their contributions to the "public understanding of science," and have
received awards for their efforts. You might hear a scientist or science
enthusiast lament that we need more "science popularizers like Sagan," or
that we need "more scientists dedicated to furthering public understanding,"
or that "more scientists need to learn how to communicate with the public." 

To Read More of This Column Visit:
http://www.csicop.org/scienceandmedia/definitions/

To Read More Columns By Matt Nisbet Visit:
http://www.csicop.org/scienceandmedia/

Comments on the column should be address to Matt Nisbet at
nisbetmc at gmail.com <mailto:nisbetmc at yahoo.com> 

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