In the
modern world, a certain level of scientific literacy is important for
understanding the latest discoveries in climate change, genetics, information
technology, and other fields that have a direct bearing upon the lives of
millions of people. However, there are many people within the United States who
are effectively unable to grasp the concepts involved in scientific discovery.
According to study published in the MIT
Technology Review, only 28 percent of Americans are
“scientifically literate.”
The
ability to understand scientific concepts is important for the overall vitality
and well-being of a civilization. The Islamic world was an early leader in
science during the Golden Age of Arabic beginning around the year 800. After several hundred years
of producing wondrous scientific achievements, such as charting the stars and
inventing mechanical water clocks, a growing climate of religious intolerance
towards the scientific enterprise doomed much of the Muslim world to becoming a
technological backwater. Similarly, the fall of Rome caused many discoveries to
be lost for nearly a thousand years and precipitated what is known today as the
“Dark Ages” in Europe: a time of superstition and low standards of living.
Likely
due, in part, to prevent a similar fate from befalling us, several public
figures have come forth. These individuals attempt to make the often-dry and
technical aspects of science accessible to the general public. Modern
techniques used for communicating science to the masses include television programs,
interviews, podcasts and popular social media channels.
Carl
Sagan, perhaps the most charismatic astrophysicist who ever lived, was one of
the early leaders in this type of science communication. Sagan was not only an
effective communicator but also a top-rate scientist with more than 600
published scientific papers to his name. In 1980, his Cosmos television
series was broadcast and captured the imagination of millions who were
entranced by the broad and beautiful vistas of the natural universe as portrayed
by Sagan. He wrote many scientific books for lay audiences, including Pale Blue Dot and the novel Contact, which was later turned into a
major motion picture.
It can
be said that the most notable present-day counterpart to Sagan is Neil deGrasse
Tyson, astronomer and cosmologist. He is the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City and also
works for the American Museum of Natural History. For anyone who saw last
year’s reboot of the Cosmos
program, it’s clear that Sagan’s influence on the starry-eyed Tyson
went far beyond their one-time meeting on Cornell’s campus. Sagan’s personal beliefs in
the cultural power of space and space travel were also reflected in Tyson’s speech as the Keynote presenter at
the 2013 National Space Symposium.
Commenting
of the consequences of space exploration insofar as their effect on America’s
intellectual health is concerned, he said:
So what
are the current problems here in America? Not in other parts of the world. Our
economy is in the toilet. Hardly anyone is interested in the STEM fields,
meanwhile our best minds are going overseas. Politicians are pretty sure they
have a solution to that, let’s get better science teachers, how about our jobs
going overseas, how’s about moving some tariffs and contracts? People are not
innovating so we put money in innovative initiatives. There things are all band
aids people. They don't work.
Proposing
a doubling of NASA’s budget, he continued, saying:
Whatever
the motives, be they geopolitical, military, economic, space becomes the
frontier, and you know every week that some new innovation is going to be
proposed, new patents are going to accepted. Space is exciting. These
innovations make headlines, and these articles filter down the educational
pipeline, everybody in school knows about it. You don't have to set up programs
to convince people that being an engineer is cool, they will know it just by
the cultural presence of those activities.
You do
that it will jump start our dreams. And you know that innovation drives
economies, especially true since the industrial revolution.
Convinced
that we’ve stopped dreaming about tomorrow, Tyson argues that NASA is needed
for more than just scientific progress. A national effort to become more
involved in the exploration of the cosmos will, he claims, reinvigorate our
collective culture as well as the economy.
Despite
provoking controversy from certain religious groups, Tyson has also frequently
appeared on popular shows like The Colbert Report to promote the funding
of science and interest in scientific endeavors among the public at large. He
has been a leader in using social media to engage with his fans, with more than
3 million followers on
Twitter.
Bill
Nye is another vocal advocate for science in mainstream culture. A former
mechanical engineer at Boeing, Nye hosted a television show called, Bill Nye the Science Guy, throughout the '90s. He used
humor and easy-to-replicate experiments to demonstrate to children how
scientific concepts relate to everyday life. Since the conclusion of his show,
Nye has frequently appeared in other shows and series with a scientific bent,
including 100 Greatest Discoveries and The Eyes of Nye. In recent
years, Nye has used his stature and popularity to advocate for the reality of
global climate change, encouraging sustainable energy and the importance of
scientific literacy.
While
it seems impossible to construe better science education as a bad thing, the
aforementioned champions of scientific rationality nevertheless face serious
challenges. Because many of the issues that they care about most are
politically charged, they often encounter opposition from people on the other
side of the facts. This has led some of their adversaries not only to question
the validity of certain views held on specific topics, but overall value of
science and its capacity to illuminate the natural order of the universe.
Additionally, in certain subsets of the population, science is perceived to be
a dull business, only of interest only to “nerds” and other socially
maladjusted individuals.
It's
clear that understanding facts about the world around us will likely become
even more important as scientific discoveries play an ever-increasing role in
daily affairs. The strength of the United States as a society will hinge on the
ability of the electorate and government officials to enact policies that
promote a better understanding of science and the natural world. Science
communicators therefore have an important role to play in educating the public
on matters that affect every one of us.
Space as Culture by Neil DeGrasse Tyson (Keynote speech at the 28th National Space Symposium)
Space as Culture by Neil DeGrasse Tyson (Keynote speech at the 28th National Space Symposium)
Carl Sagan Writes a Letter to 17-Year-Old Neil deGrasse Tyson (1975)
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