Public Science
Oct. 23rd, 2006 06:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tylikOne of the guys from SETI was presenting at the Baltimore thing, and I was struck again by how whatever you make think of the project as science (personally, no objections, but I'm more interested in the sociology than the project itself) SETI@Home succeeds very well as public science, in that it captures people's imaginations, gets their interest and gives them a point of entry in one area of science. Which made me think that perhaps there is a place for science that is aimed at least in some large part at being accessible and inspiring and to generally make the case that science is a) really cool, b) a nifty thing to grow up and do and c) worth funding. Putting a man on the moon -- now that was some great public science.
It made me think about some of the discussions I've heard about public art -- how there is a distinction between the popular public art (the Fremont Troll is often cited as a fine example of public art in this sort of sense) and fine art. Public art is supposed to be easy (for the viewer, I'm not talking about easy execution) and fun and to invite people in.
Which has me wondering about what other things might be good public science. I'm not talking dumbed down or fake science. But I'm thinking science that is chosen in part because it is fun and participatory and gets people both enthusiastic and involved. Hmm...
(Clearly space robots fit somewhere in here...)
It made me think about some of the discussions I've heard about public art -- how there is a distinction between the popular public art (the Fremont Troll is often cited as a fine example of public art in this sort of sense) and fine art. Public art is supposed to be easy (for the viewer, I'm not talking about easy execution) and fun and to invite people in.
Which has me wondering about what other things might be good public science. I'm not talking dumbed down or fake science. But I'm thinking science that is chosen in part because it is fun and participatory and gets people both enthusiastic and involved. Hmm...
(Clearly space robots fit somewhere in here...)
