What the public thinks it knows about science
2003; Springer Nature; Volume: 4; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1038/sj.embor.7400040
ISSN1469-3178
Autores Tópico(s)Climate Change Communication and Perception
ResumoPopular culture probably does more than formal science education to shape most people's understanding of science and scientists. It is more pervasive, more eye‐catching, and (with rare exceptions) more memorable. No genetics textbook can hope to compete with Jurassic Park , and no lecture on biophysics can match the sight of Dr Frankenstein pulling lightning down from the stormy sky to animate his creature. What messages about science, then, is the public likely to draw from popular culture? This essay discusses some of the most common, but there are of course many others. Science is complex and multi‐faceted, and so is popular culture's portrayal of it. ![][1] The idea that natural laws are constant across space and time is the philosophical foundation of modern science. Mainstream popular culture takes a more relaxed approach, flexing the laws of nature when required. It creates exceptions to natural laws, or ignores them altogether, whenever they threaten to conflict with the story being told. Most suspensions of natural law in popular culture are casual and—except to audiences with scientific backgrounds—obscure. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, but action heroes like Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry (1971) and Sylvester Stallone's Rambo ( First Blood , 1982) barely flinch when they fire bullets that seconds later knock a villain off his feet. There is no air in space to carry sound waves, yet spaceships routinely blow up with a thunderous roar or make a ‘whoosh’ sound like an express train when they pass. Light travels at around 300,000 km s−1, but in a Star Wars ‐style gun battle, the heroes can dive away from a laser beam after it is fired. Ecosystems on Earth require large populations of prey to sustain even modest populations of predators, but the ecosystems of alien planets include abundant … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
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