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• Date of publication Jul 01, 2026 Category: Book Review

  Bringing the invisible to light: a review of “Invisible Rainbows”

  by Andrea Bandelli

  Invisible Rainbows is a popular astronomy book by astrophysicist and science journalist Alfredo Carpineti, organised around the electromagnetic spectrum and built around conversations with LGBTQIA+ astronomers from around the world. It is, at the same time, a celebration of modern astronomy and a clear argument about the relationship between science and the society that produces it. The book is rigorous and warm in equal measure, never letting one undermine the other, and offers science communicators a strong example of how popular science writing can hold technical depth and political clarity on the same page.

  Volume 25 • Issue 4 • 2026

• Date of publication Mar 31, 2025 Category: Book Review

  Museums as laboratories for the future: a review of “Cultivating Futures Thinking in Museums”

  by Andrea Bandelli

  This review examines “Cultivating Futures Thinking in Museums”, a new collection of case studies edited by Kristen Alford. The book presents a diverse range of global examples — from the Museum of the Future in Dubai to the District Six Museum in Cape Town — illustrating how museums can cultivate “futures literacy” among visitors and communities. The anthology highlights creative approaches to navigating uncertainty, climate challenges, and social inequities, positioning museums as active participants in shaping collective futures. Particularly relevant for science communication audiences, the book showcases how science centers and museums are evolving beyond traditional roles, engaging in meaningful dialogue, and fostering proactive approaches to global challenges.

  Volume 24 • Issue 01 • 2025

• Date of publication Feb 26, 2025 Category: Book Review

  Review of “Queer as Folklore”: reimagining science communication through storytelling and identity

  by Andrea Bandelli

  This review of “Queer as Folklore” examines how cultural narratives and queer identity intersect to reshape our understanding of science communication. By analyzing myths, legends, and personal stories, the book illustrates how folklore operates as a form of “data storytelling”, capturing accounts of resilience, identity, and exclusion. It critiques the traditional boundaries between scientific knowledge and cultural storytelling, arguing that stories of figures like witches, vampires, and mermaids contain meaningful lessons about survival and social change. The book demonstrates how adopting a queer lens can expose power imbalances and foster inclusive communication, encouraging deeper public engagement with science.

  Volume 24 • Issue 01 • 2025

• Date of publication Sep 14, 2022 Category: Book Review

  Together in diversity: insights and wisdom from LGBTQ+ people working in STEM

  by Andrea Bandelli

  “The Queer Variable” is an edited collection of 40 interviews with LGBTQ+ people working in STEM. The interviews reveal the breadth of issues related to exclusion, discrimination, prejudice that LGBTQ+ people face; but also a remarkable progress and advancement of the whole STEM field to be more diverse, inclusive and equitable. The book is an empowering and enlightening reading for all those who are professionally active in STEM.

  Volume 21 • Issue 06 • 2022

• Date of publication Jul 04, 2018 Category: Practice Insight

  Beyond self-confidence: a participatory evaluation of personal change in Science Gallery's Mediators

  by Katrina Enros , Andrea Bandelli

  Mediators engage in peer-to-peer conversations with young adults visiting the art and science exhibitions at Science Gallery Dublin. Previous evaluation and anecdotal reports show that the interdisciplinary nature of these conversations fosters self-confidence and interest in academic careers. We used the Most Significant Change methodology to evaluate if working as a Mediator has an impact beyond these domains. The results show that civic engagement, interest in social justice and emotional empathy are domains of significant personal change strongly associated with the development of self-confidence and interpersonal skills.

  Volume 17 • Issue 03 • 2018

• Date of publication Jun 11, 2015 Category: Commentary

  The blurred boundaries between science and activism

  by Andrea Bandelli

  Science and activism are terms which are usually seen as quite separate. Yet, they are inextricably linked, even more so as techno scientific progress permeates contemporary society. The five commentaries in this series provide insights for a discussion about how the (apparent) separation between “value laden” activism and “value free” science is in fact very thin, and how science communication can play a key role in ensuring reflexivity and self criticism in science.

  Is it good science? Activism, values, and communicating politically relevant science

  by Gwen Ottinger

  Scientists who become activists: are they crossing a line?

  by Bernhard Isopp

  From activism to science and from science to activism in environmental-health justice conflicts

  by Marta Conde

  On activism of European researchers about science policy

  by Alain Trautmann

  Is a science critic a thug?

  by Jacques Testart

  Volume 14 • Issue 02 • 2015

• Date of publication Mar 13, 2014 Category: Commentary

  Assessing scientific citizenship through science centre visitor studies

  by Andrea Bandelli

  As science museums and centres (SMC) broaden their practices to include the development of scientific citizenship, evaluation needs also to take account of this dimension of their practices. It requires complex methods to understand better the impacts of public participation in activities mediated by SMC, including their impacts on the governance of the SMC themselves.

  Volume 13 • Issue 01 • 2014

• Date of publication Jun 21, 2010 Category: Commentary

  Engagement tools for scientific governance

  by Andrea Bandelli

  Museums have a great potential to facilitate the political engagement of citizens, intended not in the sense of taking part to the “party politics”, but as full participation in the systems that define and shape society.

  Changing standpoint on issues, by playing

  by Sally Duensing

  When stories make the context disappear

  by Barbara Streicher

  More scientists and less surrogates

  by Frank Burnet

  Creating exhibitions from debates

  by Guglielmo Maglio

  Volume 9 • Issue 02 • 2010