The British government has just published a whole batch of reports on science communication. The Science&Media Report was published on 20th January 2010, including a variety of supporting documents. The Science for All Expert Group has also just published its Report, which also includes links to numerous sources of supporting research. There is a lot to read and digest here and I haven't done so yet but thought readers here might like to read it all for themselves.
The UK has for many years been at the forefront of science communication. In 1999 I was a consultant to the then Department for Education on a project that later became MathsYear 2000. A lot of the work I had prepared the ground for concentrated on the culture of mathematics and science. London has been a centre for science since the 17th century and, if one cares to look, there are references to this scattered around the city. The developments in 20th century art show a huge influence from mathematics, physics and psychology, and yet most art historians never make those links to their students. These are just two examples - there are plenty more - and I must say that the responses from the cultural guardians of the arts in the UK was overwhelmingly positive. I did my bit - that was 10 years ago - maybe I should do a bit more!
I've just read one of the supporting reports on the media and it sadly paints a mixed picture. Part of what I was trying to achieve was not so much the culture of science, nor about science in culture but rather science as culture. The closest that the UK has come to this is on radio! Radio 4 is one of those stations that would have been closed down years ago by a commercial operator but is actually as close to being British as one can get, so would cause a major stir were it to go silent. The BBC World Service is not so different to Radio 4. Anyway, there are now two programmes that are roundtable discussions on a variety of topics and it is now standard to have scientists invited. It may not seem like much but it is a huge change from 20 years ago. It also means the public gets to hear scientists talk about other things other than their science.
In the end, real breakthroughs in science communication come from individuals, the authority they have within the media and their conviction that the sciences must be represented as part of a general discourse about the world around us. The big organisations such as government departments and scientific societies have to keep pushing but they tend to be too conservative to generate the spark needed. Where they do help is in finding that door that is ajar and getting the right person to push it open.
I'll talk more about these findings as I read them, but all comments are very welcome.
