‘Silent spring’ – making science public
September 27, 2012
In terms of making science (and products of science) public, the book Silent Spring (1962) by Rachel Carson, published 50 years ago today, occupies a unique place. It was one of the first popular science books that shaped public perception of the world we live in and it also had direct political consequences. Carson’s book …
Handmaidens and plumbers: The role of the humanities and social sciences in modern academic life
September 14, 2012
A few days ago I attended a student-organised conference on interdisciplinarity, Enquire, held at the School of Sociology and Social Policy here in Nottingham. Professor Alison Pilnick, a specialist in doctor-patient interaction and conversation analysis, gave a keynote lecture in which she explored some of the pitfalls of working between disciplines. In her conclusions she …
Making people happy: Science, technology and engineering in the summer of 2012
September 9, 2012
Over the summer I have been watching, sometimes reluctantly, bits of the Jubilee celebrations, bits of the Olympics and, yesterday evening, bits of the Last Night of the Proms (8 August, 2012), where the Proms choir did a mass Mobot, a new gesture popularised during the Olympics. This evening many people will be watching the …
Why it matters that Mitt Romney is a Mormon
August 31, 2012
After being postponed for 24 hours by Hurricane Isaac, the Republican National Convention held this week in Tampa, Florida, recovered from its shaky start and formally nominated Mitt Romney as this year’s Republican presidential candidate. He will now face Barack Obama in the general election scheduled for 6 November. As the first Mormon ever to …
‘See through science’
August 25, 2012
I was recently reminiscing about Venice, where I have been many times, soaking up the sunshine, the colours and little miracles in glass (about which more later). So I started to think about science and glass, and the title of a famous 2005 booklet produced by James Wilsdon and Rebecca Willis popped into my head: …
Taking charge of the apocalypse: On serendipity, walruses and last men
August 17, 2012
A week ago somebody sent me this YouTube video of a walrus that makes noises on command. I sent it on to a few people, including my sister. She sent me back a picture of a sea lion taken while on holiday in Alaska, which I have used as the featured image for this blog. …
Open access – what’s out there?
August 10, 2012
Open access is a hot topic. It is almost impossible to keep up with what is being written about it. In this ‘Making Science Public’ blog post we attempt to collate some of the many issues surrounding ‘Open Access’ to publicly-funded research. We have grouped the resources into five sections: Policy Positions, Publishers and Publication, …
Seeing like the Mars Curiosity Rover
August 8, 2012
In my last blog I talked about metaphor as ‘the mind’s eyes’, as metaphors make us see something as something else, which enables us to think about something in novel ways, extend our knowledge and in the process shape both science and society. In this sense metaphor can be said to be a mental technology …
On Kansas, candidates and Creationism: the struggle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party in America’s Heartland
August 7, 2012
With a US general election due in November, media attention will be largely focused on whether Barack Obama will succeed in his bid to defeat the Republican Mitt Romney and win a second term in the White House. However, the Presidential vote is only one piece in a complicated electoral jigsaw puzzle, which will also …
Making science public: The issue of language (jargon)
August 1, 2012
This is a guest blog by Gregory Hollin, a PhD student at the Institute for Science and Society (School of Sociology and Social Policy) Over recent days there has been a fascinating blog-based debate of great interest to the Making Science Public agenda. This debate focused on the nature of writing in the natural and …
MSP bookmarks
- Twitter May 8, 2017
- Social innovations in Europe #RRI November 3, 2015
- Harvey Graff, the undisciplinarian September 20, 2015
- Replacing Pesticides With Genetics August 31, 2015
- Addressing hazardous chemicals in the circular economy August 25, 2015
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