Over the past few years I have been involved in a number of science communication projects of various sorts. Below are some of the main ones, with the more recent being at the top.
Am I Normal?
In March 2008 I was interviewed for a programme about maths and discalculia which was part of BBC Radio 4's "Am I Normal" strand. This strand looked at how health professionals decide what is normal, what is not, and where to draw the line between the two. This particular programme, the third of a series of four, focussed on issues with simple arithmetic which can indicate discalculia and related problems. I was asked to do the interview because of comments in my Snapshots programme (see blelow) regarding the fact that I find arithmetic, in particular mental arithmetic, very difficult, despite being very good at more complicated mathematics. You can listen to the programme online, at the above URL.
BP Carbon Challenge
In the autumn of 2007 I was a Workshop Facilitator for the BP Carbon Challenge Roadshow, organized by EdComs. This involved touring schools in the West Midlands of the UK giving two hour workshops to educate year 10 students about climate change. Although this is not my usual subject area I joined the road show because I felt it would be useful to gain experience of interacting with large groups of young people from a wide variety of backgrounds. This, combined with working with experienced teachers, taught me a great deal about communicating scientific information in fun and interesting ways, and has been the inspiration for setting up my own maths- and physics-based workshops.
Snapshots
In 2006 I was the subject of an episode of Snapshots, a programme funded by the Vega Trust and designed to show real scientists in a positive light, with the aim of encouraging young people to consider studying scientific subjects. As well as showing aspects of my PhD work the programme also concentrated on some of my varied hobbies, from fire arts to playing the folk harp, in an attempt to dispel the traditional stereotypes of scientists.
Science Fiction Conventions
I have been involved in scientific aspects of a number of Science Fiction conventions, including being the Resident Scientist for the Young Adult Fun Activities (YAFA) programme at Interaction, the 63rd World Science Fiction convention held in Glasgow in August 2005. This involved both organizing and giving science-based talks, demonstrations and panel items, and finding ways to inject educational scientific content into non-scientific programme items. I was also on hand throughout the convention to answer any science questions asked by young people and their parents. In general the programme was considered a great success by those who attended, and was mentioned in an article about the convention in the Times.
Popular Science Writing
I have written a number of articles for the Brentford Mercury, the fanzine of Sproutlore, the official Robert Rankin fan club, which were centred around the science of the Brentford Trilogy, perhaps Robert’s best known and loved books. These articles used far-fetched, loosely science-based incidents in the books as a basis for examining genuine scientific ideas and principles. Topics covered included the possibility of a 10th planet in the solar system, teleportation, perpetual motion machines and time travel. This series of articles arose out of a talk on the subject which I gave at Brentcon 1, the club’s first convention. The talk was well received, and prompted a great deal of questions and discussion in the bar afterwards, which in turn gave me additional ideas and material for the written articles.
Venus Transit
After my time as a Researcher in Residence at Trinity (see below) ended, I returned to the school to organize a viewing of the 2004 Transit of Venus – something which had not been visible from Earth since 1882. I provided eclipse glasses and set up several sets of binoculars in the school yard to project images of the Sun onto screens so that the disc of Venus could be viewed safely. Some of the students were initially unimpressed at the small dark “blob”, but an explanation of its significance caught the interest of many. This event was reported in the Nottingham Evening Post and on BBC Radio Nottingham.
Researcher in Residence
The Researcher in Residence scheme, run by the University of Sheffield, gives research scientists the opportunity to go into a local school and spend time with the students with the aim of encouraging them to consider science as a career. During my PhD I spent one morning a week at Trinity School in Nottingham for a term. There I was involved in a number of activities from giving talks on scientific careers to helping out in science classes and taking a revision class on A-level particle physics – a subject which the teachers found difficult to communicate as they were not familiar with the topic. The opportunity to see school life and work from the point of view of a teacher, rather than a student, was both fascinating and eye-opening and helped me to understand some of the difficulties which teachers face.
Science Festivals
At the 2003 Cheltenham Science Festival I helped the SpaceDog team with their Time Machine exhibit. This was designed to explain the fundamental concepts of Einstein’s General Relativity to anyone from age 8 upwards – quite an ambitious aim! I checked the scientific accuracy of their main script and was also on hand at the festival to answer questions and provide explanations to the public. This involved dressing up in historical costume, to fit in with the “time machine” theme, and talking to both adults and children, many of whom arrived convinced that they could not possibly begin to get to grips with something so complicated but left surprised at how much they understood, which was an extremely satisfying experience. It also involved a short, impromptu interview live on BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
Popular Science Consulting
I believe it is important to communicate science in an interesting and informative and above all accurate way. Too often science is translated for a general audience by journalists who do not genuinely understand the topic they are talking about, and as such miss-communication often occurs, with speculative theory being presented as hard fact, or, in the worst cases, facts being totally miss-represented, giving a distorted view of the subject. Simon Singh wrote his book, Big Bang, from the point of view of a physicist, but one who does not specialize in cosmology, and so I proof-read the book to help him ensure that his work was scientifically accurate as well as entertaining. This was a unique opportunity for me to see how books evolve from an early draft to final print, which was a fascinating experience.
