Provost's Lecture: Alan Alda and Brian Greene - Why Communicating Science Matters

The discussion between Alda and Greene centered on ways to lend greater clarity to the presentation of science and teach future scientists how to communicate with the public.
Greene said we live in a world that is more and more science-based and asked how can we have a democracy when a majority of the population can't participate in the scientific "discussion?" He also said that the public pays for his grants and he owes it to those who fund his research to be clear. Alda joked that it wouldn't hurt if scientists could "communicate with their grandmothers too." When Alda asked if the audience was made up of mostly scientists, a great number of hands went up. Alda, who narrated "Scientific American Frontiers" and is writing a play about the life of Madam Curie, has been an advocate for bringing science and the humanities together. Alda said that science is like a detective story where you get clues, take wrong turns, and sometimes the right turn. Greene said that 99 percent of what scientists do is wrong turns but the journey, which is rarely shared with the public, is more interesting than the results. Alda said an example of how confusing science has become to the public is that a newspaper article indicates something is bad for you and then six months later another says the same thing is declared healthful. Greene said that it isn't that science hasn't made up its mind but that it hasn't learned enough. He said that scientists shouldn't erase what went before but embrace what went before. This is what happens with textbooks, he said. If you can't explain the principle to an eight-year-old, you don't understand it yourself. Alda said it is important for scientists to get out of the lecture mode and embrace a conversational mode. Greene said that he can feel it when he is giving lectures if he is not really "there." He said it is an uncomfortable feeling that jolts him. Because of this he said he often doesn't look at scripts for lectures until minutes before he goes in front of an audience or a camera.