Wanted: Skilled Messengers

Laypersons are shying away from science due 
to lack of expert science communicators, reports Biplab Das 

Recently, when a schoolboy was asked whether he has heard the name of Albert Einstein, he said, "yes." When the same boy was asked whether he has heard the name of S. N. Bose, he hesitantly said, "no." "It is ironical that youngsters are growing up without knowing Indian scientist like Bose and his contribution to science, which Einstein himself appreciated and embraced," said Dr. Subodh Mohanty, scientist, Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous body under the department of science and technology. 

Mohanty was speaking on 'Science Communication through Vigyan Prasar' at a recently-held two-day workshop on the State of Science Communication in West Bengal, Tripura and Other States. The Vigyan Prasar and the Science Association of Bengal (SAB) organised the workshop at the seminar hall of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science. 

"The aim of Vigyan Prasar is to make children and adults aware of science through entertaining programmes," said Mohanty. "Vigyan Prasar has made a series of science programmes known as 'Vigyan Bhabai,' which was aired on television twice." 

According to Mohanty, all these awareness programmes largely cater to urban dwellers. So Vigyan Prasar has also made efforts to communicate with people who stay in villages. "We have experimentally introduced satellite radio broadcast in several states," he said. 

Addressing the workshop, Mr. Samarjit Kar, well-known science journalist, said it was time writers went for soul-searching as to why laymen were not so receptive to science communication efforts. He argued that a deficiency in expert communicative skill on the part of presenters was at the root of the problem. "Science writers have to be really adept in holding peoples' attention if they are serious about reaching the target audience," he commented. 

Mr. Aloke Sen, science presenter, however, did not fully agree with Kar. According to him, commercialisation of media was making science popularisation extremely difficult. The managers of media houses were so keen on advertisements that they hardly bother about science communication, he pointed out. 

"Science communication through television is a victim of the same malady," said Dr. Amit Chakraborty, fellow of Vigyan Prasar and former station director of All India Radio, Kolkata. "A recent survey done for a private TV channel revealed that of the 600 programmes telecast in May and June this year, only 10 were related to science." 

Science is now being taught in the confines of classrooms, "but real science lies beyond the classrooms in nature," said Dr. Saroj Ghosh, former director-general of the National Council of Science Museums. "One can explore the beauty of science looking at the star studded night sky and wondering about the diversity of life on earth."