This Sunday morning I'm sipping a cup of Japanese Sencha, listening to Grant Green and wondering about how the world of science interfaces with the general public, and with other scientists. This is a big problem for an industry where knowledge is so specialised, and sometimes so abstract, that communicating to anyone who is not in the 300 strong group of experts in that particular field can be like trying to explain the merits of the cinema of Wong Kar Wai to a group of X-Factor enthusiasts. However, for the purposes of the scientific industry, and the cross pollination and dissemination of disparate ideas, which is vital to the progress of academic science, this boundary is one worth investing time and effort into understanding and exploring.
The internet seems an obvious place to start exploring this relationship, because in the modern age it represents the newest and fastest form of communication, and the one available to the widest audience. I have chosen a group of websites that I think quite fairly represent the places the general public would begin looking for scientific information, and places scientists would venture to look at the work of other scientists. I have not included any academic journals in my study, because to me these are supposed to be used by clients who are already experts in a particular field, and therefore need to present information in a very specific visual language to make them accessible to the international scientific community, and to project a feeling of authority that is appropriate for a peer reviewed journal.
The website for CERN seemed to be a logical place to start, representing a very high profile, cutting edge scientific organisation (http://public.web.cern.ch/public/). One thing I noticed immediately was the use of a blog like structure, with a post elaborating on a recent experiment using a clear graphic. The second thing that struck me was the use of 'fast' media; users are invited to join the CERN twitter feed. The lack of clutter and clear focus of information impressed me, especially considering how complex the science being investigated by this organisation is. I also found some interesting images of the equipment itself;
This immediately reminded me of the old images taken during the manhattan project;
A nice example of how the visual language of science in the popular conscience hasn't really changed for half a century.
My second website for todays post comes from the MIT website, the homepage of which is a little cluttered, but they seem to allow each department the freedom to create their own identity on the internet. I have chosen the following department website because it focuses on the develpment of sensors for use in urban design. Urban design is an area of scientific research that crosses disiplines and and also the line between public and scientific domains (http://senseable.mit.edu/) I especially liked the way this website allows the scientific projects to stand out, by having the research summary presented visually in the centre of the page. This method of presentation also invites interaction from a visitor, drawing them in with clever use of graphics combined with links to research projects. Compare this to the slightly drier list of research projects usually presented on departmental websites, for example from the MIT physics departmental website. (http://web.mit.edu/physics/research/abcp/areas.html). The comparison of these MIT websites offers an interesting observation; both of the departments behind the websites obviously draw a lot of research dollars, however the physics department is working in a less public space than the department designing sensors for use in urban environments. The use of smart design to interact with the public and governing bodies is apparently one that is already in the scientific vocabulary, but perhaps not used when communicating directly to other scientists.
Overall, my impression is that scientists are actually developing good skills for knowing when not to use scientific jargon and equations to explain concepts to non-scientists, and also that on the internet scientists are exploring modern design concepts to communicate ideas. The MIT sensor development website shares a lot of visual charateristics with the design or art world, for example the grey helvetica on a white background that is so ubiquitous at art or design exhibitions.
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