Since being named a recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry, I've had ample occasion to explain my research to general
audiences. I've spoken to the brightest
young scientists and physicians in Pakistan, to an audience of thousands in
Malaysia, and to lecture halls of students in Grinnell, Iowa, and around the
world. I've spoken to kings and
lawmakers in very formal settings, and to reporters, comedians, cab drivers,
and many others in one-on-one conversations.
On these occasions, I've shared my story—how I came to a
career in science, and what a career in science is and should be. I've shared
my science with them, explaining how we serendipitously discovered the protein
family long postulated to allow cells to control passage of water across their
membranes.
I thoroughly enjoy these occasions to share science with
others and to learn from my audiences about their own experiences and
relationships with science and research. Even if readers of this book don't
share my enthusiasm for sharing the story of science and scientists with new
audiences, I would maintain that doing so is a skill that scientists, engineers,
and researchers have an obligation to learn and to use regularly.
With time, science can uncover cures, create awe, and
trigger gee-whiz moments by revealing things we didn't know, and in some cases
hadn't even expected would be interesting to know. (For example, the
long-postulated "water channel" was an abundant-but-contaminating protein in
blood samples for experiments in which we were looking for a totally different
molecule, the Rh protein!)
In fact, science today might be more broadly important than
ever before. Many public-policy issues of greatest concern to Americans and
others are related to science and engineering--global warming, alternative
energy sources, coastal development, transportation infrastructure, and stem
cell research. It is our responsibility as scientists, engineers and
researchers to inform these debates, not just by publishing our results in
professional journals, but by making the information accessible, and ourselves
available, to the public.
Often, a dichotomy of fact and fiction, or of reality and
expectation, surrounds research that is in the public eye. This dichotomy
reflects a lack of understanding of how science is done, and of how fast
research can progress to the clinic or the store shelf, on the part of the
public, the government, and the media.
And so it is the duty of all scientists and engineers to
engage the public, to explain their work and how they do their work. Getting
science before the public, whatever the topic, should make for a more
well-informed population whose expectations are more consistent with what we
can deliver.
No book can instantaneously alter a person's interest, ease,
or ability in communicating to general audiences, lawmakers or reporters about
their area of expertise. However, Explaining
Research offers communication tools and insiders' perspectives on
communicating to the public to scientists and engineers to help us effectively
explain what we do and why we do it.
"Because" might have been a good enough answer to "why"
during the fight against polio, the Space Race, or the Cold War, but it isn't
good enough now.
