Some while ago I posted an item on Telling Stories which was triggered by a post on Richard Gayle’s Blog Spreading Science. Following on in much the same theme, Richard has a new item on his site Why science communication often fails which explores the paradox between dealing with facts or listening to a good story. It raises the concern about whether science drives policy, or policy drives science. The point that I had raised was that the story should be based on, and traceable to the facts, something that was, for example, badly missing in the recent controversy over climate change. I would imagine that most scientists feel a good deal of frustration that scientific matters are poorly communicated and consequently, poorly understood by non-scientists. Richard’s blog is well worth reading, and I would also recommend Ben Goldacre’s book Bad Science. Furthermore, Nick Davies’ book Flat Earth News gives a general insight into modern journalistic processes and standards that add to the challenge of communicating science to the general public.
Also, take a look at Global Warming: Man or Myth?
