Hi everyone, today we're going to be talking about science content creators. Science content creators come in a variety of forms and produce digestible, engaging, well-communicated, appealing science for general and specialist audience consumption.
Science communication (or sci comms in it’s punchier form) is a field dedicated to the simplification and adaptation of scientific concepts for the broader public.
Today I'm joined by my fellow tutor Lily, who's going to introduce herself, and tell you about her own recommendations for top science content creators...
Lily: Hi I'm Lily, another DNA tutor. I am studying biomedical sciences where I mainly learn about immunology and science communication, it's quite a mixed bag. Here are some recommendations of things to read, listen and watch if you are interested in a jumble of different science topics like I am.
#LilyRecommendation1: First off, there's a YouTube channel called Kurzgesagt. I don't know how to pronounce it, but it means 'in a nutshell', which is how these videos explain a range of different topics. There is one video explaining the immune system which I found helpful during A level biology, and honestly it's still been useful reminder for my degree. Here's a link to one about consciousness which is an interesting watch.
#LilyRecommendation2: Another good YouTube channel is called Nature Video. Nature is well known for publishing scientific papers, but less well known for their videos. Using really detailed animations, you are able to see the inside of cells or parts of the body, which can be quite helpful in understanding the bigger picture of biological structures. For example, this video linked below takes you inside a 3D map of a mouse's brain.
#LilyRecommendation3: Something to listen to when you're on the go is a podcast called 'The Infinite Monkey Cage'. Two scientists get together with a comedian to discuss topics like the science of dreaming, whether microbes secretly rule the world, or how to build a bionic human. This is an entertaining way to expand your knowledge. Here's an episode they did on the human brain, check it out on the link below. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08kn47j
(Bad Pharma isn't upside down it's just a stylistic choice of the publisher, which means that whenever it's on my bookshelf it really annoys me)
Ben:
#BenRecommendation1: Well someone's got to recommend it and it might as well be me but there is of course the massive swath of Oliver Sacks stuff, the most famous of which is The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. It's a good read, an interesting topic combined with a compelling style - something which a number of science writers notably lack (I'm looking at you Adrian Owen).
#BenRecommendation2: For those of you who are thinking about the medicine route, there is of course anything written by Ben Goldacre, especially his earlier and better-known work, Bad Pharma and Bad Medicine. As a look at the process of evidence-based medicine, it's pretty compelling. I do feel I have to apologize for my namesake's tone throughout the book. While he is funny, occasionally the style and phrasing can come across as... smug maybe. It doesn't make his writing wrong in any sense, just makes it a tad frustrating to read.
#BenRecommendation3: For those more generally interested in biology, especially anything related to genetics or evolution there's also ... sigh... Richard Dawkins, I guess. I have no idea if he's still a "thing" in popular culture nowadays, but about ten years ago he was. While all of his writing for the past 15 years has had basically nothing to do with science, his first book The Selfish Gene is a bit 70's but is readable, interesting and informative.
#BenRecommendation4: There are a couple of podcasts I could suggest, but by far and away the best stuff (in my opinion at least) is anything neuroscience related that's found on In Our Time. It isn't exactly sexy, but it is accessible and incredibly informative. In essence a grumpy old man gets a bunch of massively overqualified academics to come on and explain stuff to him. It's not exactly a novel format for a program but it does work and is perfectly capable of taking listeners from total ignorance to a pretty high expert level of whatever it is they're talking about. In Our Time covers a whole range of topics but when you're looking for them on Spotify or something there's normally a dedicated science section (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01gyd7J). While Lily above has talked about Infinite Monkey Cage which has a comedy lilt this really doesn't but it's probably fair to say that it goes a little more in depth.
#BenRecommendation5: From a more chilled perspective there's something like The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry which occasionally does some interesting stuff but possibly leans a little young and simplistic. Plus their constantly upbeat cheery tone slightly gets on my nerves, it's like being held hostage by children's TV presenters, but the science is usually pretty sharp and they usually pick out interesting topics.
That’s it from us today but come back tomorrow for more!
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