Posts

September 24, 2012

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11:36 AM | We Are All Politicians Now: Science Communication and the Romney 47% Video

This week, presidential candidate Mitt Romney got into hot water after he made some remarks at a fundraiser attended by the wealthy that seemed to denigrate middle-class and poor Americans. Similarly, last week, Bill Nye released a frank video denouncing creationism that sent some religious viewers into a tizzy and prompted the Creation Museum to [...]

September 02, 2012

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3:44 PM | Bill Nye’s “Don’t Teach Creationism…” Video Dissected by Business Communication Expert

Have you seen the new video by Bill Nye called “Creationism is not appropriate for children”? The video simply shows Nye standing in front of a white background and speaking, for two minutes, thirty seconds. Yet almost three million people watched it on YouTube, and many discussed it on YouTube and Facebook. Some folks are [...]

July 26, 2012

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11:01 AM | Marketing Your Science? Keep it Real: An Interview with Congressman Robert Walker

When I speak to scientists about marketing, I like to say how important it is to “keep it real”. Pardon me while I say that again in business-speak. I like to emphasize the importance of developing long-term relationships with your customers. That means being as honest as possible about what you can do for your [...]

June 12, 2012

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4:28 PM | Flame challenge fails to challenge negative stereotypes of scientists

Scientists are aloof and socially inept. That seems to be part of the message of the video that won the Flame Challenge, a science communication contest run by the Center for Communicating Science. The winning video, made by Ben Ames, was just announced on June 2 at the World Science Festival in New York. Winning [...]

June 08, 2012

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2:18 PM | Don’t be Arrogant, Do Tell a Story: An Interview with Congressman Robert Walker about How Scientists Should Interact with Congress

Congressman Robert Walker represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from 1977 to 1997. He’s has taken an interest in helping scientists understand Congress, and he invited me to his marble office building on K Street in Washington DC to interview him. Walker was Chairman of the Committee on Science [...]

March 09, 2012

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12:28 PM | Entertainers’ Sticking up for Science: The Help We’ve Been Pleading For?

In magazine reporting (and maybe science blogging), they say three events suffice to indicate a trend. So let me announce a new trend: popular entertainers are sticking up for science. Here are three trendsetting entertainers turned notable science advocates. Actor Alan Alda wrote an editorial in Science last week launching a science communication contest to [...]

January 24, 2012

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7:49 PM | The Open Science Paradox

I just read and enjoyed Reinventing Discovery: The New Era of Networked Science, a new book by Michael Nielsen, recently reviewed by Bora Zivkovic. The book tells how science is undergoing a revolution where new global online collaborations face off against secretive old-school researchers and profit-hungry journal publishers. It urges scientists to fight for open [...]

October 24, 2011

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5:08 PM | Hungry for Jobs and for Change, Scientists Join the Occupy Movement

Traffic backed up along Baltimore’s inner harbor last week as protestors from the “Occupy” movement waved signs and shouted at the passing drivers. And among the protestors were scientists and science students, unhappy with their job prospects, their funding prospects, and the way science is viewed in America. I had heard about the protests on [...]

October 07, 2011

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12:03 AM | Optimism and Enthusiasm: Lessons for Scientists from Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple Computers who died this week, had a reputation as a passionate business leader and a modern folk hero. In 1999 one of Jobs’s friends said, “He is single-minded, almost manic, in his pursuit of excellence.” That’s certainly a character trait we scientists can admire. Let’s take a look at another [...]