I've written more about communicating science than any other topic, or so it appears from the category listing on the front page of this blog. And it just keeps coming.
I mentioned in passing a week or so ago that I was reading Unscientific America. I finished reading it a few days before my presidential address.1 Some of the ideas -- notably the idea that some of the scientific literacy problem is the fault of scientists -- were already part of my talk. I hope to post my impressions of the book some time later next week, so if you're looking for a review, you'll have to come back later.
In catching up on what's happened in the blogosphere lately, I noticed that there's another book I'll have to read. No, it's not Randy Olson's Don't Be Such A Scientist. I already knew about that one and ordered it. Cornelia Dean, an excellent science reporter for the New York Times, has a book coming out in October called Am I Making Myself Clear? I've ordered myself a copy of Cornelia Dean's book, and I look forward to reading it when it arrives. According to Chris Mooney, there's at least one more book coming after that.
As if that weren't enough, Matt Nisbet recommends two more edited volumes on science communication. The volumes Nisbet recommends appear to be more in the realm of scholarly analyses of communication than in the realm of "self-help" books like Olson's and Dean's.2 Still that's two more books I should probably read.
Now if some of us scientists can just figure out how to apply the advice we're getting, maybe we'll make some progress. In the meantime, I can't wait for my copies of Olson and Dean to arrive.
I mentioned in passing a week or so ago that I was reading Unscientific America. I finished reading it a few days before my presidential address.1 Some of the ideas -- notably the idea that some of the scientific literacy problem is the fault of scientists -- were already part of my talk. I hope to post my impressions of the book some time later next week, so if you're looking for a review, you'll have to come back later.In catching up on what's happened in the blogosphere lately, I noticed that there's another book I'll have to read. No, it's not Randy Olson's Don't Be Such A Scientist. I already knew about that one and ordered it. Cornelia Dean, an excellent science reporter for the New York Times, has a book coming out in October called Am I Making Myself Clear? I've ordered myself a copy of Cornelia Dean's book, and I look forward to reading it when it arrives. According to Chris Mooney, there's at least one more book coming after that.
As if that weren't enough, Matt Nisbet recommends two more edited volumes on science communication. The volumes Nisbet recommends appear to be more in the realm of scholarly analyses of communication than in the realm of "self-help" books like Olson's and Dean's.2 Still that's two more books I should probably read.
Now if some of us scientists can just figure out how to apply the advice we're getting, maybe we'll make some progress. In the meantime, I can't wait for my copies of Olson and Dean to arrive.
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