I came across this wonderful interview a while ago,
and I had so much to say, it’s taken me a while to put it all together! If you’re like me, you remember Alan Alda
from the MASH series and then as the super enthusiastic host of Scientific
American Frontiers. Alan Alda has been
keeping busy, currently working with the Center for Communicating Science with
SUNY Stony Brook University. The center
provides lessons in communication to graduate and undergraduate students, as
well as a major in science journalism.
In this interview with NPR, Mr. Alda talks about his
contest idea, “What is a flame?” (www.flamechallenge.org) As a child, Alda asked this question of his
teacher. She gave a less than
satisfactory answer. His challenge is
for a scientist to explain what a flame is well enough and clear enough to be
understandable to an 11-year old. Classrooms
of 11-year olds have signed up to judge the winners. Unfortunately, we have missed the time to
enter this contest. But, I can’t wait to
read some of the entries! They will be
announced in June at the World Science Festival. Also, I learned from this interview that his real
name is Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo.
Awesome!
Like many questions of science, it is a “simple
question to pose, but not to answer.” It
is all a part of Alda’s overall goal to improve science communication among
scientists as well as society. Alda
mentions that he wants to work to bring everyone’s abilities up, instead of
evening the playing field. As he puts
it: “If we don’t understand [science]
well enough to ask the right questions, we can’t take care of ourselves when we
need to exercise the right caution. To
know that the right questions are being asked.”
And why not admit that the questions are
complicated? Science is in everything,
in every single bit of our days. Details
about what’s in our food, what’s in the air we’re breathing, how the car works that
got us to our jobs, how our brain perceived and categorized the funny smell
coming from your officemate’s desk…
Every one of the things you look at or use in a day has a story. A detailed history, and mechanisms that
require years if not a lifetime to understand, be it biological or
mechanical.
One of the things Alan Alda does at SUNY is to teach
improvisation techniques to graduate students.
While it may sound horrifying, this combination of academic fields turns
out to really help students present their science better. And in the land of science, communicating
your ideas and findings is pivotal to your career. As Mr. Alda puts it, “The scientists who
communicate better do better.” And, it
makes sense. “Letting the real person
emerge” is how a person becomes successful not only in science, but in all
aspects of life. Making the people
around you fellow players in your life, engaged in what you are thinking.
Alan Alda believes whole-heartedly in the importance
of communicating science, and I happen to agree with him. Not only the known bits of science need to be
communicated well, but also the critical thinking processes used in present day
research. The more science that is
understood, the more everyone can inform themselves on their own terms. The more informed we all are, the less likely
that another’s opinion or potentially careless study will obscure our knowledge
of the world.
What do you think?
For the interview:
For more on the flame
challenge:
And, for
fun!! :D
