I wanted to drop you a quick note to tell you how much I’ve been enjoying your podcast. I have only recently gotten into astronomy, courtesy of Death By Black Hole by your partner is this picture. I’ve jumped in with both feet and have been catching up on the back episodes of Slacker Astronomy. I love your sentiment that astronomy is a gateway drug to education. I’m a math teacher by vocation and passion and I’m always looking for ways to get my students to understand the practical applications. I should make listening to your podcast a required assignment.

Thanks!
-Justin

lol. :>…

I am not a scientist, I am an engineer and entrepreneur with some experience teaching in my college days. I would like to add something from my own experience that may help.
One of my major challenges as I was growing professionally was to get people on board from a leadership perspective. Most of the times, telecom and electronic engineers. And let me tell you it was ( and still is)a major challenge. Clarity and passion always worked, but not delivering “the answers” and associated knowledge, just trying to address the set of questions that may lead to achieve the goal and let people to be part of the creative process. Is more like “we are all doing and learning science” instead of somebody teaching and the rest listening and learning.
People that think and like to be creative also want and need to be part of the process.
Hope this helps at least a little bit.
Bernardo

You can watch the talk streaming at

http://www-ppd.fnal.gov/EPPOffice-w/colloq/past_01_02.html

Scroll down to March 27th, 2002.

Rob

One of the big problems I have found is that to the “mainstream media” science news isn’t “cool.” It doesn’t belong in the “if it bleeds, it leads” way of thinking in today’s “got to beat the other station, we need ratings” mindset.

That’s the same mindset that gives us the “New scientific breakthrough!” style of science reporting, too. The PR departments of universities bear no little responsibility for that.

So, you can combine science and gratuitous violence… but of course not all science fits that, nor should it!

Case in point: I try the best I can to get publicity for our astronomy club’s events. Twice a month we open our observatory to the public, and we have meetings open to everyone (and would love Dr. Tyson, Dr. Gay, and Dr. Plait to give talks). But we aren’t “news.” Sure,we can get listed on internet calendars, but unless there’s a big astronomical event, we won’t get play on the television.

But I digressed for minute. My point is that one station here, when asked to give us a small amount of publicity for an upcoming public event at our observatory, said – and I quote – “we can’t do that all the time…there are other venues that cater to more people (fairs, etc.) that we have to mention that are more important.”

Until the news media comes to realize that science, and educating the public about science, is interesting, it’s going to be an uphill fight. But it’s one we can’t stop fighting.

One last thing: the same television station who “can’t bother with us” has local blogs on their site, so readers can see “what’s going on in the area.” I have a blog for our astronomy club (to try to educate the local public about us and astronomy), but they don’t want to have anything to do with using our blog. They have blogs about kittens, and photos, and local politics (with no experts, mind you) but no science.

Sometimes I feel like Sisyphus. :