Science Communication Quotes

“There is a curious idea among unscientific men that in scientific writing there is a common plateau of perfectionism. Nothing could be more untrue. The reports of biologists are the measure, not of the science, but of the men themselves. There are as few scientific giants as any other kind. In some reports it is impossible, because of inept expression, to relate the descriptions to the living animals. In some papers collecting places are so mixed or ignored that the animals mentioned cannot be found at all. The same conditioning forces itself into specification as it does into any other kind of observation, and the same faults of carelessness will be found in scientific reports as in the witness chair of a criminal court. It has seemed sometimes that the little men in scientific work assumed the awe-fullness of a priesthood to hide their deficiencies, as the witch-doctor does with his stilts and high masks, as the priesthoods of all cults have, with secret or unfamiliar languages and symbols. It is usually found that only the little stuffy men object to what is called "popularization", by which they mean writing with a clarity understandable to one not familiar with the tricks and codes of the cult. We have not known a single great scientist who could not discourse freely and interestingly with a child. Can it be that the haters of clarity have nothing to say, have observed nothing, have no clear picture of even their own fields? A dull man seems to be a dull man no matter what his field, and of course it is the right of a dull scientist to protect himself with feathers and robes, emblems and degrees, as do other dull men who are potentates and grand imperial rulers of lodges of dull men.”
― John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez

“Not only is it important to ask questions and find the answers, as a scientist I felt obligated to communicate with the world what we were learning.”
― Stephen Hawking, Brief Answers to the Big Questions

“No such thing as a false analogy exists: an analogy can be more or less detailed and hence more or less informative.”
― Konrad Lorenz

“The arts and sciences are avatars of human creativity.”
― Mae Jemison

“There is no substitute for science communication to the public and policy makers.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita

“It was an interminably difficult job when talking to non-scientists. They did not want to know about the ifs and buts, nor the pedantic small difference between processes. Any hole in the ground was a sinkhole.”
― Andy McGee, Sublime Murder

“The difference between science and the arts is not that they are different sides of the same coin even, or even different parts of the same continuum, but rather, they are manifestations of the same thing.”
― Mae Jemison

“Science is a broad church full of narrow minds, trained to know ever more about ever less.”
― Steve Jones, The Single Helix

“Creationists have an argument not with science, but with argument.”
― Steve Jones, The Single Helix

“In other words, I had seen the skeletons hidden in the closet, and now, regretfully, I wished that I had interviewed them instead.”
― Savannah Mandel, Ground Control: An Argument for the End of Human Space Exploration