{"id":4893,"date":"2014-02-03T11:35:32","date_gmt":"2014-02-03T11:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/soapboxscience\/?p=4893"},"modified":"2014-02-03T11:35:32","modified_gmt":"2014-02-03T11:35:32","slug":"marcus-du-sautoy-communicating-science-within-the-sciences-and-to-the-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/soapboxscience\/2014\/02\/03\/marcus-du-sautoy-communicating-science-within-the-sciences-and-to-the-public","title":{"rendered":"Marcus du Sautoy: Communicating Science within the Sciences and to the Public"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Marcus<\/a>

Marcus du Sautoy. A passionate advocate for the “wonders of science”.<\/p><\/div>\n

Marcus du Sautoy, OBE, is the Simonyi Professor for Public Understanding of Science and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. He is known for his efforts in popularizing mathematics and has been named by\u00a0<\/em>The Independent on Sunday as one of the UK\u2019s leading scientists. He was a recipient of the London Mathematical Society\u2019s prestigious Berwick Prize in 2001, which is awarded every two years to reward the best mathematical research by a mathematician under forty.<\/em><\/p>\n

Du Sautoy writes for the Times and the Guardian and has presented numerous television and radio programmes, including The Story of Maths, School of Hard Sums and The Code. He is also the author of many academic articles and books including the best-selling The Music of the Primes and The Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>When mathematician Marcus du Sautoy was appointed the prestigious role of the Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science<\/a> at the University of Oxford<\/a> back in October 2008, he had two distinct priorities looming prominently in his mind.<\/p>\n

The job brief was clear in its motives at the time and reflected on the one-hand high-level science, and on the other, the ability to communicate this scientific research widely to a public audience. The latter was the first priority. Stepping into fill the boots of the inaugural holder Richard Dawkins, was by no means an easy feat, but du Sautoy also a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, took to the role naturally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I took over from Richard, my immediate thoughts were on clearly communicating to the public what was happening in science,\u201d says du Sautoy. \u201cScience has such a big impact on humanity. In order for people to feel empowered and for them to be able to make decisions on where they want science to go and the long lasting effects it has on society, they must first fully understand the surrounding issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second role of his job, encouraging the communication of science between disciplines within the sciences, is perhaps the most intriguing, in terms of developments. The biggest challenges, du Sautoy says, are the \u201cinbuilt education system\u201d and the \u201clinguistic barriers\u201d across the sciences. \u201cThis is a fascinating area where across academia we\u2019re looking to break down the silo mentality which I believe has been prevalent in most universities across the world\u201d, asserts du Sautoy. \u201cThis is partly due to the time and hard work we put into our own specialist subject meaning there often isn\u2019t time to see what\u2019s happening in other areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Crossing Scientific Language Barriers<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

At the University of Oxford, du Sautoy has been influential in making sure conversations are cross departmental and that there is a critical forum for those not just in sciences, but also in the humanities.\u00a0 Through facilitating conversation groups, including a striving mathematical biology cohort and regular podcast debates <\/a>around four different scientific subject areas, there have been many lessons learned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s very interesting is quite the extent of the language barrier there is across the sciences and that is partly what breaking down these barriers is about,\u201d observes du Sautoy. \u201cIt is about thinking in a different way, learning about what each other do and going out of the normal comfort zone to get into the mind-set of another scientist. It is through facilitating the contacts between disciplines and departments which I think will create the big breakthroughs in science as we go into the next decade. Research councils and the Royal Society<\/a> realise this and what\u2019s exciting is that many of the low lying fruits are in the narrow borders between subjects, where we might find the new discoveries quite quickly, if we are asking questions that have never been asked before.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is through some of the pressing global issues, such as energy, population growth, and food that du Sautoy believes this joined up approach within the humanities and sciences will be beneficial and lead to exciting progress.\u00a0 His gripe with the educational system is that it compartmentalises subject areas, which he insists is hindering the understanding that there are huge connections between individual subjects, which he describes as \u201cone continuous spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Named one of the UK\u2019s leading scientists by the\u00a0Independent on Sunday<\/i>, the London-born professor has become the true face of mathematics popularising the subject through BBC television and radio programmes including a succession of\u00a0Horizon<\/i><\/a>\u00a0documentaries, newspaper columns in the\u00a0Times\u00a0<\/i>and\u00a0Guardian,\u00a0<\/i>books such as the bestseller\u00a0The Music of the Primes,\u00a0<\/i>and inspired talks and school tours. It is this knack and enthusiasm for simplistic creative storytelling, such as his children\u2019s lecture on \u2018Why Beckham chose the 23 shirt\u2019<\/a> that has made du Sautoy a popular figure with the media.<\/p>\n

\"Marcus<\/a>

Marcus during his ‘Why Beckham Chose the 23 Shirt’ tour of UK schools. Photo- University of Oxford.<\/p><\/div>\n

Becoming Storytellers<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Du Sautoy admits that universities need to do a much better job at training scientists to communicate and become storytellers.\u00a0 Since Charles Simonyi created the role at the University of Oxford in the mid-nineties, numerous other similar positions have sprung up at other UK universities. \u201cI think in recent years, there has been a definite push from universities towards increasing scientific dialogue with the public and dedicating positions to promote the idea of science in society, seen through the appointments of the likes of Jim Al-Khalili and Alice Roberts\u201d, notes du Sautoy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think communication should be a fundamental part of any scientists training as frankly it benefits your own science. Science, in my mind, has always been about two things, discovery and communication. As scientists we have to learn how to emphasise with a public audience for them to fully understand and to acknowledge the ideas we are seeing. The broader audience science can reach, the bigger the benefit in terms of the new ideas you are transmitting as a scientist.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cwonder of science\u201d is something du Sautoy passionately advocates for and believes is the inspiration behind \u201cso many exciting\u201d stories and programmes, which are widening the fascination and curiosity in science within the public domain. \u201cIt is heartening to see scientific stories being told by practising scientists on television. I think that\u2019s why we become scientists because we\u2019re animated by the stories that we\u2019re reading and those that are unfinished that we want to contribute to. The excitement of making new discoveries and then seeing its impact on us as a society is so important to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve managed to capture this well, people are not turning on BBC programmes about science or reading the books that we write because they feel they have to, because it\u2019s important, they are doing it because they find it fascinating and entertaining and want to understand. The knock on effect is that the public is then in a much better position to make judgements on what we should be doing about the energy crisis or whether we should give the okay to stem cell research.\u201d<\/p>\n

He cheerily summarises, \u201cIt is a particularly positive time in Britain for science.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcus du Sautoy’s 2009 TED talk. Courtesy of TED<\/a>.<\/p>\n