杏吧原创

Congratulations on becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society 鈥� does this change anything for you?

Well, it鈥檚 a huge honour, but it鈥檚 also a responsibility 鈥� a commission to be even more active. It鈥檚 a signal, I hope, that public and political engagement is a legitimate part of a scientific career.

So, your scientific peers don鈥檛 consider your work popularising science to be a distraction?

No, promoting science is widely accepted now, and quite a few people have made this part of their career. We鈥檝e moved on a long way from the 70s and 80s, when it got Carl Sagan into a colossal amount of trouble.

Promoting science is a cultural endeavour, and it鈥檚 an economic endeavour: there鈥檚 an easy case to make, in terms of reaching the next generation.

Certainly science has never seemed so popular鈥�

I think that some of the improved awareness is not to do with the popularisers but with the level of excitement within the sciences themselves. In my area, particle physics and cosmology, we鈥檝e had the switch-on at the Large Hadron Collider, found the Higgs boson, and now signs of potentially new physics in the latest LHC results.

There鈥檚 a sense of excitement that there hasn鈥檛 been for many decades, and that feeds in. You shouldn鈥檛 underestimate the inspirational value of the big telescopes, the particle accelerators, the many human genome projects.

But you still have work to do?

There are definitely a lot of areas where we can do better. Specifically, we can get young women into physics and engineering: there鈥檚 a huge part of the population that we鈥檝e not yet interested to the point where they come through to university level and beyond.

Then there鈥檚 the problem of social mobility. There鈥檚 no lack of enthusiasm among 16, 17, 18-year-olds from all backgrounds, but I worry about the impact of UK tuition fees. If university seems colossally expensive, and they鈥檙e going to end up with a huge debt, that might prove a real barrier.

Would it help science鈥榮 cause to have more politicians with a science background?

I鈥檇 like that, absolutely, but it鈥檚 more about the way of thinking. The prime minister doesn鈥檛 need to know about the Higgs mechanism, but the prime minister does need to know there are ways of thinking about the world that are 鈥� for want of a better word 鈥� humble.

Richard Feynman once said science鈥檚 most important contribution to civilisation is its 鈥渟atisfactory philosophy of ignorance鈥� 鈥� so not only is it possible for your opinion to be changed by data, it鈥檚 celebrated. It means you can have an idea, test it, make progress and move on. It鈥檚 the sense that we don鈥檛 have an answer for everything and the desire to keep building our knowledge needs to permeate government.

Does scientific thinking also need to permeate the public? In the past you have confessed to a 鈥渞ather violent opposition to anything that isn鈥榯 science鈥溾赌�

Well, if people want to read their horoscope, that鈥檚 neither here nor there 鈥� it鈥檚 just funny. But it ceases to be funny when you get things like the anti-vaccination movement.

It鈥檚 not really appropriate to just 鈥渉ave an opinion鈥� about things like vaccination: that鈥檚 how you get a public health problem. There鈥檚 a fine line here, though. You can鈥檛 expect a member of the public or even a physicist like myself to go and read a lot of papers on the efficacy of a particular health treatment.

What we need is understanding of what it means to make a scientific statement about the most sensible course of action, given the evidence. This is central to the task of public engagement in science. People need information 鈥� where do they get it from? Who do they trust?

What are you working on right now?

I鈥檓 filming a new series for BBC1 called Forces of Nature. I鈥檓 also finishing off a book with my colleague Jeff Forshaw called Universal. It deals with the big questions about how we know things as scientists.

And I鈥檓 involved in a joint project called The New Age of Wonder. It鈥檚 based on the idea that the UK鈥檚 great institutions should work together in the interests of the nation. We鈥檝e got the BBC, the Royal Society, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and others working together to find new ways to share our scientific culture and achievements.

Plus, of course, you鈥榲e been 鈥�

Yes, that鈥檚 almost unbelievable to me. Apollo was central to my childhood, and I grew up worshipping those guys. I met Neil Armstrong once, and all I did was shake his hand. I just couldn鈥檛 say anything: it was like meeting God.

Every time I sit with Buzz Aldrin I鈥檓 well aware of the fact that this is the Buzz Aldrin who flew the Eagle onto the moon. I鈥檝e also met Jim Lovell, who was commander of the Apollo 13 mission and is just iconic.

For the next generation, it will be the astronauts of the International Space Station that provide inspiration. Tim Peake has captured the public鈥檚 imagination, and when he gets back and goes round the schools he鈥檒l have a tremendous impact.

Does it bother you that everyone seems to have a Brian Cox impersonation up their sleeve?

It doesn鈥檛 bother me at all. I鈥檝e always said that science is too important not to be part of popular culture, and that means scientists should be part of popular culture. Anyway, the ultimate accolade in Britain is to have the piss taken out of you by satirists and impersonators.

听

PROFILE

is a particle physicist and cosmologist at the University of Manchester and the UK Royal Society鈥檚 Professor for Public Engagement in Science. He also presents science-based television and radio programmes