--- title: Science Communication description: Science communication explains research to the public. You will learn storytelling about science, writing and speaking for lay audiences, visual communication and the research on what actually changes minds. category: sciences subcategory: scientific-method difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/science-communication --- # Science Communication Science communication explains research to the public. You will learn storytelling about science, writing and speaking for lay audiences, visual communication and the research on what actually changes minds. ## Available Resources 2 Books • 1 Websites • 3 Papers ## Podcasts ### 1. The Naked Scientists **Author:** Chris Smith The weekly flagship program of The Naked Scientists, a Cambridge-based science outreach team led by Chris Smith, mixing science news, researcher interviews and listener questions across biology, medicine, physics and space. Listeners keep up with current research explained in plain language. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/naked-scientists-podcast **Tags:** science-news, science-communication, biology, medicine, general-science ### 2. Science Vs **Author:** Wendy Zukerman Science journalism podcast in which each episode takes a popular claim, such as fasting diets, fluoride or ADHD treatments, and weighs it against the published research. Listeners learn how evidence is gathered and graded, and how to separate supported findings from hype. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://gimletmedia.com/science-vs/ **Tags:** science-communication, evidence-based-health, fact-checking, research-literacy ## Papers ### 1. Ten Simple Rules for Better Figures **Author:** Nicolas P. Rougier, Michael Droettboom, Philip E. Bourne Short open-access PLOS Computational Biology paper (2014) with ten rules for scientific figures, among them knowing the audience, stating the message, adapting to the medium, captions, avoiding default settings, using color deliberately, and not misleading the reader. Includes worked matplotlib examples. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003833 **Tags:** scientific-figures, data-visualization, matplotlib, figure-design ### 2. The Sciences of Science Communication **Author:** Baruch Fischhoff Baruch Fischhoff's 2013 PNAS paper from the Sackler Colloquium. It sets out a four-step approach: find the science audiences need, learn what they already believe, design messages to close that gap, and test them empirically. It gives a research-based way to plan a communication, which balances the craft books. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3752164/ **Tags:** risk-communication, audience-research, message-testing, decision-science ### 3. Communicating Science Effectively: A Research Agenda **Author:** National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2017 National Academies consensus report reviewing what research shows about communicating science to the public: audiences, trust, misinformation, conflict, and contested issues like climate and vaccines, plus the open questions the field still needs to answer. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.nationalacademies.org/publications/23674 **Tags:** public-trust, misinformation, science-of-science-communication, contested-science, research-agenda ## Websites ### 1. AAAS Communication Toolkit The AAAS Center for Public Engagement's free guide for scientists. It covers message design (bottom line first, then why it matters, then details), online communication, in-person engagement, visuals, working with journalists, and briefing policymakers. A practical free checklist that covers channels the books do not: journalists and policymakers. Last updated 2022, but the advice is stable. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.aaas.org/resources/communication-toolkit **Tags:** public-engagement, message-design, media-relations, science-policy ## Books ### 1. If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? **Author:** Alan Alda Alan Alda's account of building the Alda Center for Communicating Science. It covers improv-based training for empathy, reading an audience, cutting jargon, and speaking to non-experts, with research on theory of mind and his workshops with scientists. The best entry point for the speaking and connection side of the topic. Partly memoir, but it records the Alda Center method in the founder's own words. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0812989155?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** improv, empathy, public-speaking, jargon, alda-method ### 2. Houston, We Have a Narrative: Why Science Needs Story **Author:** Randy Olson The most concrete, teachable storytelling method written for scientists: a marine biologist turned filmmaker applies screenwriting principles to science. The book introduces the And-But-Therefore (ABT) template and the related word-sentence-paragraph exercises for turning lists of findings into a narrative with a problem and a resolution. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/022627084X?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** science-storytelling, abt-framework, narrative-structure, screenwriting ## Youtubes ### 1. SciShow **Author:** Hank Green Short science explainer videos created by Hank Green and produced by Complexly, answering questions across biology, chemistry, physics, psychology and earth science and reporting new research. Viewers gain accessible, accurate background on how everyday phenomena work and what recent studies found. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/user/scishow **Tags:** general-science, science-explainers, physics, biology, chemistry ### 2. CrashCourse **Author:** Hank Green, John Green Educational YouTube channel of fast-paced, illustrated video series spanning physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, ecology, history, literature and economics. Each series follows an introductory course syllabus, giving viewers a structured overview of a subject's core concepts before formal study. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/c/crashcourse **Tags:** introductory-science, popular-science, physics, chemistry, biology --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/science-communication