ANNOUNCEMENT: I’m part of a new blog network at the Guardian, “Political Science“. I’ll keep this for more personal/ niche content though. My first post there considers the way the public (or forms of publicity) are used to help reform science in the All Trails campaign. It’s based on a short talk I gave at … Continue reading »
Tagged with campaigning …
There’s a nuclear missile on the roof above a vintage clothes shop on the Holloway Road…
There’s a nuclear missile on the roof above a vintage clothes shop on the Holloway Road. You have to look carefully, but it’s there. It’s that egg-like object in the photo above. Or at least that’s the top of it, the red thing next to it is the base. No, it’s nothing to do with … Continue reading »
Has Public Engagement become too institutionalised?
I was at a conference recently and a colleague raised an interesting question: today, where do the socially concerned scientists go? In the 1960s and 1970s, there was Pugwash or the Union of Concerned Scientists. What now? I could think of several such scientists, though they didn’t fit the same model as the 1970s. Yes, I know … Continue reading »
Handcrafting political discourse
I visited Ottawa last weekend, for the Extending Expertise conference. Walking around the center of town on Sunday morning, I spotted this flyer for the Green Party. Ottawa, May 1st 2011 I thought it was interesting not only because it referenced a Twitter hashtag, but that it left space to add a short message on … Continue reading »
The academics are revolting
On Monday, I wrote that it was starting to feel as if a debate on the future of higher education was finally starting to open up. Today, I have a post on Research Fortnight’s blog, Exquisite Life, about the way academics are (in their own way) starting to campaign on this issue. I bashed out … Continue reading »
The nerds are on the march
A version of this post initially appeared on the Times’ Eureka blog The ballad of Simon Singh and his altercation with the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) has been told many times before (for example). What I want to focus on here is the way the case inspired scientists, skeptics and bloggers to become involved in … Continue reading »
On laughter and ridicule
I have a post about science and humour as part of the the Guardian’s science blogging festival. Go read, and have a look at some of the other blogposts while you are there. The interactions between science and comedy is something I’ve thought about quite a bit. I did some work on humour in popular … Continue reading »
Scientists and the vote
Today at Science Online London I spoke in a session about”The Science Vote” alongside Evan Harris and Imran Khan. First a bit of background on this Science Vote thing (the content my talk is under the photo). I’m used having to sneak references to science policy in the back of my syllabi. This year, I … Continue reading »
