World Science Festival

TOPIC: science for the masses?

A World Science Festival? Yep, the first World Science Festival took place recently in New York City. As reported in the New York Times, the 5-day festival drew large crowds, and most if not all events were sold out, even with multiple festival events running concurrently. Looking over the events and participants (see http://www.worldsciencefestival.com), perhaps that's not entirely surprising. The originators of the festival—Columbia physicist Brian Greene and his wife, Tracy Day, a former producer for ABC news—put together an fascinating and enticing collection of more than 30 events celebrating and exploring science, with a world-renowned cast of players. With an estimated 120,000 people in attendance, the inaugural event drew enthusiastic crowds and greater than anticipated interest; plans are already underway for another festival next May.

I'd be interested to know more about the demographics of the Festival attendees. Relative to the population of and tourism in New York City, 120,000 attendees is somewhat less remarkable. Or is it? Perhaps that depends not only on the number in attendance, but on other characteristics of those in attendance.

Regardless, it's intriguing to consider science festivals as an addition to our array of cultural events. As Brian Greene, physicist and co-founder of the World Science Festival states, "The World Science Festival aims to spark a movement where science shifts from the cultural outskirts to the cultural center."

Related References

http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/arts/30fest.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/science/03fest.html?

http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/early-reviews-of-science-festival/index.html

http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/boffo-box-office-for-science-festival/index.html

Science is a Way Of Life — Brian Greene, 6/1/2008

TOPIC: Science (general)

Here's a nice New York Times op-ed piece by Brian Greene (6/1/2008), author of The Fabric of the Cosmos, and The Elegant Universe.

After acknowledging the standard reasons cited for "why science matters," such as the fact that science is "woven into the fabric of our day-to-day activities … affects the quality of our lives" and is critical for problem-solving and making informed decisions, Greene continues:

But here’s the thing. The reason science really matters runs deeper still. Science is a way of life. Science is a perspective. Science is the process that takes us from confusion to understanding in a manner that’s precise, predictive and reliable — a transformation, for those lucky enough to experience it, that is empowering and emotional. To be able to think through and grasp explanations — for everything from why the sky is blue to how life formed on earth — not because they are declared dogma but rather because they reveal patterns confirmed by experiment and observation, is one of the most precious of human experiences.

Later in a paragraph I would like to send to all my students who complain that science sucks out all the mystery and wonder of the world, Greene points out that:

It’s one thing to go outside on a crisp, clear night and marvel at a sky full of stars. It’s another to marvel not only at the spectacle but to recognize that those stars are the result of exceedingly ordered conditions 13.7 billion years ago at the moment of the Big Bang. It’s another still to understand how those stars act as nuclear furnaces that supply the universe with carbon, oxygen and nitrogen, the raw material of life as we know it.

Read the whole editorial yourself. It's a short and worthwhile read. I hope more and more people eventually agree with Greene that "Science is the greatest of all adventure stories …"

Related References

Easter, R., Greene, B. R., Jackson, M. G., & Kabat, D. (2005). String windings in the early universe. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2005(2). [doi: 10.1088/1475-7516/2005/02/009]

Greene, Brian 1999, original hardcover). The elegant universe: superstrings, hidden dimensions, and the quest for the ultimate theory. W. W. Norton & Company.

Greene, Brian (2004, original hardcover). The fabric of the cosmos: space, time, and the texture of reality. Knopf Publishing Group.

Greene, B., Schalm, K., Shiu, G., & van der Schaar, J. P. (2005). Decoupling in an expanding universe: backreaction barely constrains short distance effects in the cosmic microwave background. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2005(2). [doi: 10.1088/1475-7516/2005/02/001]