Civic Scientists: little pieces of knowledge.

I attended an incredible talk by 1996 Nobel Laureates Dr. Robert Curl and Sir Harold Kroto this evening. Let me just read that sentence again and bathe in its glory. I was 30 feet away from not one, but two Nobel laureates. Wow. I was especially excited about this lecture which was part of the Civic Scientist lecture series.

A ‘civic scientist’ to me is a true scientist who uses his or her knowledge, accomplsihemnts, and analytical skills to help bridge the gap between science and society.” -Dr. Neal Lane.

Dr. Lane was actually the one who introduced our two speakers for the night!

Dr. Robert Curl came on the stage first to talk about the public opinion and science. He spoke about the fact that there is often public resistance to information that may be inconvenient, fearful, or contradictory to their beliefs. Well, many of the public debates involve questioning of science facts at heart. Abortion/stem cell research asks when a fetus is human, and global warming begins the issue with: is this even happening? It was especially interesting how he contributed the phenomenon of public ignorance to the development of internet. Simply due to the vast amount of information online, people can find others who agree with their views. It’s so easy.

Next, Sir Kroto, in a bright orange shirt, spoke more about the fundamental importance of science. Yes, it is useful because there are nurses who can’t use decimals and administer exponentially wrong amounts of medicine (eeek), ahd science may lead to development of the most gracious gift to humanity: anesthesiology.While we try to emphasize the importance of science by asserting its practicality and usefulness, science needs to be appreciated for its innate beauty (See Richard Feynman lectures).


Sir Kroto closed the talk with a clip from the movie “The Third Man”. Like Harry Lime, the truth is always true (duh) and constant. As Sir Kroto put it, it does not sway to people’s prayers. The truth may be hidden and elusive, and may lead to initial confusion, but it has always been there and it will always be there. It just hasn’t been fully understood, yet.

Dr. Lane, Dr. Curl, and Sir Kroto.

Again to the importance of civic scientists: scientists, as discoverers of natural facts, need to facilitate the public’s understanding of truths. The talk reminded me of the Newsweek article I read titled “Their Own Worst Enemies” by Sharon Bagley. She states that scientists expect the public to understand and absorb the facts they generate and throw out at them, whereas the public may feel insulted or ignored in response. Hmm.


I am undecided as to what kind of scientist I will be, but I would like to be a fundamentally, a civic scientist under all my titles. I want to take the kind of knowledge I have and use it to inform others who can then make truly informed decisions. Here’s the image I have: I’m a mom by the kitchen with a knife that only I can use (because I’m the grown up adult), who will cut up the pieces of chicken for the kids to eat. Because it’s unreasonable for me to expect the kids to chew and digest the huge pieces of meat, and I have the tool to make it edible for them, it is my responsibility to, naturally.