I recently read a paper by Michael West 1 (not in an e-book reader though) where he discusses the evolution of how astronomers have been perceived by the public over time. He notes this is important for three reasons:
1. Much of our research is funded by tax-payers or private donors, and is supported by politicians. This support is already very small (West notes it is equivalent to the cost of 1-2 cups of coffee per resident in the most developed countries), and is also thought of as a luxury, rather than a necessity. A great example of this is when John McCain said that it would be foolish to give government funding to Chicago’s Adler Planetarium to replace its 40-year old planetarium projector.
2. Negative stereotypes (which are perpetuated through movies, TV shows, etc.) can discourage students from pursuing careers in astronomy – especially women and minorities.
3. Our ability to inspire and educate the public is greatly influenced by the way we are viewed socially. It can be difficult to talk to an audience who can’t relate to, or doesn’t respect the speaker. We must keep in mind that:
public interest in astronomy does not equal public view of astronomers
West goes on to describe situations in which astronomers are revered (“astronomers and physicists” were ranked the 5th most prestigious occupation by Americans in 2005), reviled (think about the uproar when Pluto was demoted to dwarf-planet status in 2006), and ridiculed (astronomers tend to be characterized as bumbling social idiots, such as in the Big Bang Theory).
My favorite example West cites is the poem, and subsequent children’s book, entitled When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer (poem by Walt Wiltman). It is a story about a child who absolutely loves astronomy, so he goes to hear a public lecture – and ends up being bored to tears.
After attending my fair share of similar lectures (making me wonder why I go to conferences), I am convinced the book would be a much more important reference than any textbook for astronomers.
1 West, M. 2009. Public Perception of Astronomers: Revered, Reviled and Ridiculed. arXiv:0905.3956v3
Love the poem. Love it.
Cath – Isn’t it fantastic? I fell in love with it, and am seriously considering printing it out all nicely, framing it, and putting it up on my office wall.
Yes, it was really cool. I kind of feel for the astronomer in the poem though. I often find it hard to make my job sound fascinating when asked to descibe it to non-scientists. I’m just so afraid I’ll “bore them to tears”. It takes some skill and practice to be fascinating…
Anna – I feel for the astronomer too…especially since it perpetuates the stereotype of the boring old scientist. After all, there have been some very amazing astronomers that have engaged the public (Carl Sagan to name one).
It takes some skill and practice to be fascinating…
That’s one of the reasons why I started doing outreach, so I could practice and develop those skills. I figured if I could hold the attention of a group of 6 year olds, then I’m set! Hahaha!
Hey, Brian May is a rock star and an astrophysicist (does that count?). How cool do you need?
I don’t know, Lee – he is pretty cool, but I wonder what kind of an astronomy lecture he’d give?
Well, if he accompanied it with a few chords from ‘In the Lap of the Gods…revisited’, it’d be entertaining regardless. (Sorry, I’m being facetious, I know.)
:) – facetious or not, I’d buy tickets to that!
Don’t get me started. In fact, the situation is actually worse for other types of scientist – same negative stereotypes, but lacking the ‘wow’ factor of space.
The book definitely looks interesting, thanks for pointing it out.
There is already a response to Whitman’s hateful, anti-scientist poem:
When I Heard the Learn’d Poet
by Scott Aaronson
When I heard the learn’d poet,
When the Freudian symbolism, the Biblical allusions, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the themes and styles, to analyze, categorize,
and criticize them,
When I sitting heard the poet where she lectured
with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,
In the rational dry night-air, and dropped my copy of Leaves of Grass off a cliff,
And correctly predicted that it would hit the ground in 3.82 seconds.
www.scottaaronson.com/writings/whitman.html