Publications

Date of publication Dec 21, 2004 Category: Focus

Science Communication around the World: eyes on Brazil

by Yuri Castelfranchi

Internal scientific communication and public communication of science and technology are growing in Brazil at a good pace, along with scientific productivity. In this Focus we will try to analyze the debate on standard or alternative models of communication of science that can be seen in the practice of science journalism and popular science in Brazil.

Volume 3Issue 042004
Date of publication Dec 21, 2004 Category: Commentary

Science in Radio Broadcasting

by Matteo Merzagora

The international symposium Science on air: the role of radio in science communication was held in Trieste on 1 and 2 October, 2004. To our knowledge, it is the first conference ever specifically held on science in radio, and it is certainly the first time science radio journalists, researchers, and media experts from 16 different countries met to discuss their journalistic practice and the role of radio in science communication. The main results are presented in this section.

Science on air: the role of radio in science communication
by Matteo Merzagora

Function, audiences and publics of contemporary radio: a challenge for researchers
by Enrico Menduni

Choices that Make Radio Science Stories
by Blanka Jergovic

BBC radio science: challenges and opportunities
by Martin Redfern

Innovations to enrich science communication through radio
by Bhaumik Thakar

Volume 3Issue 042004
Date of publication Dec 21, 2004 Category: Focus

Science and communication in Brazil: evolution, globalization, and contingencies

by Rafael Evangelista , Marta M. Kanashiro

The scientific institution in Brazil is marching to a good rhythm. Despite problems in funding (and in the very irregular distribution of such funds), universities and private research centers changed and grew over the last few years. In 1999, Brazil (whose external debt is over 50% of GDP), invested 0.87% of GDP in Research & Development: a percentage comparable to that of several Mediterranean countries.

Volume 3Issue 042004
Date of publication Dec 21, 2004 Category: Editorial

Is Darwin on the cross?

by Pietro Greco

The question was raised in the 4th November copy of The New York Times when it entitled the editorial of Garry Wills (political and cultural historian), regarding the re-election of George W. Bush, "The Day the Enlightenment Went Out". Wills' theory, with which the directors of the newspaper palpably concur, is that Bush was re-elected because "many more Americans believe in the Virgin Birth than in Darwin's theory of evolution".

Volume 3Issue 042004
Date of publication Dec 21, 2004 Category: Article

Cultural distance between peoples' worldview and scientific knowledge in the area of public health

by Gauhar Raza

The objective of the present paper is an attempt to measure the public understanding of science in the area of health and hygiene and test the efficacy of "cultural distance model". A pre-tested open-ended questionnaire was used for administering cross-sectional surveys at a religio-cultural festival in India. 3484 individuals were interviewed and responses were coded and entered to construct computer database. The data was used for determining the cultural distance of five scientific concepts from the quotidian life of the target population. In developing countries, the formal system of modern education operates as a strong determinant in shaping cultural structures of thoughts prevalent among the citizens. There exists a cultural distance between the scientific structure of configuring natural occurrences and peoples' complexity of thoughts. The distance varies significantly across the concepts that were subjected to the inspection and is a function of the nature of scientific information.

Volume 3Issue 042004
Date of publication Dec 21, 2004 Category: Focus

Science, Communication and Society in Brazil, the narrative of deficit

by Rafael Evangelista , Marta M. Kanashiro

If there is a peculiarity in the way of doing science and in the way of communicating science in Brazil, it is in the use of the idea of "deficit" in political and economic discourses, as well as in the discourses of socio-technical networks. Our proposal here is not to affirm or reject the existence of this deficit, but rather to understand its workings and its construction as a way of bringing about networks of interest that make use of this idea. For us, this is not an idea which is restricted to the discourse of researchers or of journalists and scientific broadcasters; there is also an echo in the general society, and in different spheres and situations. The idea of deficit with regard to scientific knowledge is functional in Brazil, in conjunction with the idea that the country itself has a deficiency in relation to developed countries. It is as if there were two levels of deficit which join together and empower each other.

Volume 3Issue 042004
Date of publication Sep 21, 2004 Category: Focus

Science communication in an era of diversity

by Yuri Castelfranchi

The eighth convention of the PCST (Public Communication of Science and Technology) network, which took place in Barcelona this June, emphasised an increasing richness in reflection and practice with regard to several themes to do with science communication. This growing variety mirrors the different approaches gradually coming about in different cultural and geographical contexts. In particular, the Focus of this issue of JCOM concentrates on a presentation of the models of interpretation of science communication referring to the Mediterranean and South American cultural area.

Volume 3Issue 032004
Date of publication Sep 21, 2004 Category: Letter

SMEC project: an european dimension for the relation between museum and school

by Sara Calcagnini

Volume 3Issue 032004
Date of publication Sep 21, 2004 Category: Editorial

In the name of God, and of Bush, and of the market

by Pietro Greco

In the name of God is the heading chosen by some researchers from a Middle Eastern country for their posters in an international conference on chemistry which has recently been held in Paris. This powerful message preceded the results of the researchers' work on the morphology, molecular structure, as well as the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of advanced polymeric materials. It was an unexpected statement, an unusual message, though certainly not an unprecedented one. It had nonetheless a striking effect in the context of a scientific conference attended by thousands of people from various ethnic and religious backgrounds.

Volume 3Issue 032004
Date of publication Sep 21, 2004 Category: Article

The Tuscan Artist

by Fabio Toscano

In The Areopagitica, his most important work of prose, John Milton mentions Galileo as the illustrious martyr who fought for the freedom of thought. The name of the great scientist is repeated several times in the English poet's epic masterpiece: Paradise Lost. In three different passages of the poem, Milton in fact celebrates the "Tuscan Artist" and his crucial achievements in astronomy. Nevertheless, in a subsequent passage, the poet addresses the Copernican issue without openly defending the heliocentric theory confirmed by Galileo's discoveries. In fact, he neither embraces the Copernican system nor the Ptolemaic one, but instead compares them, following a dialectic method where one cannot fail to notice an echo of Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the two Chief World Systems. Milton's literary work presents images of astronomy at that time, thus offering a valuable historical example of scientific communication through art.

Volume 3Issue 032004

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