Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2011
Volume 56, Number 4
Saturday–Tuesday, April 30–May 3 2011; Anaheim, California
Session C13: Educating and Exciting the Public about Physics |
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Sponsoring Units: FEd FGSA Chair: Lawrence Woolf, General Atomics Room: Royal EF |
Saturday, April 30, 2011 1:30PM - 2:06PM |
C13.00001: Categorically Not! Invited Speaker: The artist Bob Miller liked to say that the worst disease afflicting humankind is ``hardening of the categories'' - the tendency to cram subjects into boxes labeled ``science,'' ``art,'' ``politics,'' ``economics,'' ``play'' -- labels that are as outdated and meaningless as divisions between the colors on a continuous spectrum. Over the past 10 years, KC Cole has been organizing free form events that tear down these artificial barriers, and with intriguing results: actors gain insights into character from a topologist; a choreographer solves engineering problems through her knowledge of motion; neuroscientists learn about intuition from filmmakers and string theorists. Categorically Not! - as the series is called - is not (merely) an attempt to ``popularize'' science by looking at it through unlikely lenses, but a real exploration into the deep connections that both illuminate and energize all fields of study. It is a ``people's'' salon, free and open to the general public. Cole will talk about how she overcomes ``hardening of the categories'' not just through events, but also in her popular magazine and newspaper articles, books, radio commentaries, and teaching at USC's Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 30, 2011 2:06PM - 2:42PM |
C13.00002: Science At Home: Lessons from the Exploratorium Invited Speaker: It has been estimated that school-aged children spend 10{\%} of their lives in school, which means a lot of learning is happening outside the classroom -- in settings we normally don't associate with formal education. When these informal opportunities to learn science are meaningful and authentic, they can lay the groundwork for a deep understanding of science later in life. The Exploratorium has long championed the idea that all of us are naturally born ``scientists'' who will engage in inquiry, and ``do science,'' if given the opportunity and the right tools. In this talk, Shore will present how the Exploratorium encourages children and adults to investigate the natural world both at the museum and at home. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, April 30, 2011 2:42PM - 3:18PM |
C13.00003: The Big Bang Theory on TV: How to make a Big Bang with the Public Invited Speaker: Is it possible for a television sitcom to accurately portray scientists? Probably not, but with some effort it can accurately portray science. Since its debut in 2007, \textit{The Big Bang Theory} on CBS has striven to include accurate and current references to physics, astrophysics and other disciplines. This attention to detail (which means that Big Bang is the first television comedy to employ a physicist as a consultant) is an obsession of its co-creator and executive producer, Bill Prady. Prady, whose twenty-six year career in television has taken him from \textit{Jim Henson's Muppets} to this current project, began his working life as a computer programmer. His frustration with how inaccurately science and technology is generally depicted in film and television led him to ask if it was possible to be both correct and funny. Using clips from the show as examples, we will engage in a discussion of the depiction of science on this program and in popular entertainment in general. [Preview Abstract] |
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