Frank Burnet visits Nature
A couple of days ago we were lucky enough to welcome Frank Burnet, a leading practitioner and proponent of science communication. He is based at the UWE in Bristol, UK and, among many other things, is a director of the Cheltenham Festival of Science.
I didn't take my usual set of verbose notes because I was far too busy enjoying Frank's talk. He described various ways of communicating science, particularly to non-scientists. These ranged from the traditional (e.g., lectures) to the much less traditional (e.g., ads on buses, quizzes in supermarkets, demos at motorway service stations, and drama-led debates). Suffice it to say that if you get a chance to see what his team is up to, or to hear Frank talk, then do. He's a very insightful, engaging and entertaining guy, and he's working in an area — the public understanding of science — that should be important to us all.
