Scientists need to speak up on issues inc global warming

[Dr Martin Williams [account from Drupal site]]

Good article by Chris Mooney, in the Washington Post, includes:

Quote:

in a world of blogs, cable news and talk radio, scientists are poorly equipped to communicate their knowledge and, especially, to respond when science comes under attack.

…

amid the current upheaval in the media industry, the traditional science journalists who have long sought to bridge the gap between scientists and the public are losing their jobs en masse. As New York Times science writer Natalie Angier recently observed, her profession is "basically going out of existence." If scientists don’t take a central communications role, nobody else with the same expertise and credibility will do it for them.

…

what’s needed is less "pure science" on its own — although of course scientists must continue to speak in scientifically accurate terms — and more engagement with the concerns of nonscientific audiences.

…

Scientists need not wait for former vice presidents to make hit movies to teach the public about their fields — they must act themselves.

On issues like global warming and evolution, scientists need to speak up

 

[Author]

Posts