Week 1 Tuesday readings/viewings

Week 1 Thursday readings/viewings

Week 5 Tuesday readings/viewings

Week 5 Thursday readings/viewings

Week 2 Tuesday readings/viewings

Week 2 Thursday readings/viewings

Week 6 Tuesday readings/viewings

Week 6 Thursday readings/viewings

Week 3 Tuesday readings/viewings

Week 3 Thursday readings/viewings

Week 7 Tuesday readings/viewings

Week 7 Thursday readings/viewings

Week 4 Tuesday readings/viewings

Week 4 Thursday readings/viewings

Week 8 Tuesday readings/viewings

Week 8 Thursday readings/viewings

• Sustainable Science Communication Conference, UCSB, May 13–14, 2015
  • Jennifer Ouellette, "The Mixology of Cocktail Party Physics: Tools and Tips for Broad-based Science Communication" Session I, 06:28–34:15.
  • Related link: referred to by Jennifer Ouellette at 32:00 (above), from Bones, Season 9, Episode 11, "The Spark in the Park" <www1.fmovies.io/watch/bones-season-9-episode-11-the-spark-in-the-park.html> (advance to 39:18). Be forewarned: you will cry! After you've exhausted your supply of Kleenex, we will discuss the interplay between subjective/emotive affect and objective scientific information.
• Carl Sagan. "Science and Hope," Chap. 2 in The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark. Ballantine Books (1995) ISBN 0-345-40946-9
  NOTE: Included within the last book published by Carl Sagan in his lifetime, this chapter is a splendid 'scientific manifesto.' It is crafted prose and well worth reading as we contemplate the importance of clearly communicated science.

• John C. Besley and Andrea H. Tanner. "What Science Communication Scholars Think About Training Scientists to Communicate," Science Communication. 33(2) 239–263 (2011) SAGE Publications

• Joel Achenbach. "The Age of Disbelief," National Geographic. March 2015. pp. 30–47.

• John Oliver. "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Scientific Studies (HBO)" May 8, 2016.
  
  
• "Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning" (executive summary), Stanford History Education Group, Nov. 22, 2016
  

Argument from ignorance

• Neil DeGrasse Tyson, et al. "Neil Tyson talks about UFOs and the argument from ignorance," <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BRDCxNEuyg> Interviewed 26 March 2009 at The Palladium in St. Petersberg, FL (9:37)Neil DeGrasse Tyson is well worth watching for at least two reasons: 1) Dr. Tyson is one of the highest-profile science communicators of this decade, host of the television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odessy, and a polished lecturer whose playful, thought-provoking style reaches a broad scientific audience; 2) this clip from a lecture tour in 2009 is a witty and compelling discussion of a common logical fallacy that is often employed in pseudoscience: the argument from ignorance.

Science and pseudoscience

• Michael Shermer. "Why Smart People Believe Weird Things," Chapter 18 in Why People Believe Weird Things: pseudoscience, superstition, and other confusions of our times. 2002. New York: Henry Holt & Co.
  This is a chapter from Michael Shermer's popular book, Why People Believe Weird Things.

• Patrick Finn, Ann K. Bothe, Robin E. Bramlet. "Science and Pseudoscience in Communication Disorders: Criteria and Applications," American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, Vol. 14, 172–186, August 2005.
  Patrick Finn, Ann Bothe, and Robin Bramlet offer a rubric for testing whether medical treatment claims are truly scientific. Their article in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology focuses upon claims within the field of speech pathology; however, their delightfully well-organized and lucid "ten criteria" can be applied to virtually any scientific field of study.

Pathological science

• Martin Fleischman and Stanley Pons. "Electrochemically induced nuclear fusion of deuterium," J. Electroanol. Chem., 261 (1989) 301-308
  So-called cold fusion represents one of the best contemporary examples of pathological science. The originally published 1989 journal article here by Martin Fleischman and Stanly Pons kicked off a firestorm of research controversy that continues today.

Scientific fraud

• A J Wakefield, S H Murch, A Anthony, J Linnell, D M Casson, M Malik, M Berelowitz, A P Dhillon, M A Thomson,
  P Harvey, A Valentine, S E Davies, J A Walker-Smith. "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and
  pervasive developmental disorder in children," The Lancet, Vol 351, 637–641 (February 28, 1998)
  Andrew Wakefield et al.'s 1998 article in The Lancet represents the worst of fraudalent science. Despite the fact that Wakefield's co-authors and the editors of The Lancet retracted their support for the paper years ago, Wakefield himself has remained steadfast in his battle against vaccination. The overall result has been a rise in several deadly, previously suppressed diseases, particularly among young children.
  
  
• Simon H Murch, Andrew Anthony, David H Casson,
  Mohsin Malik, Mark Berelowitz, Amar P Dhillon,
  Michael A Thomson, Alan Valentine, Susan E Davies,
  John A Walker-Smith. "Retraction of an Interpretation," The Lancet, Vol 363, 750 (March 6, 2004)
• Editors of The Lancet. "Retraction—Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specifi c colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children," The Lancet, Vol 375, 445 (February 6, 2010)
• Brian Deer. "How the case against the MMR vaccine was fixed," BMJ 2011; 342:c5347
• Brian Deer. "How the vaccine crisis was meant to make money," BMJ 2011; 342:c5258
  
  
• John Bohannon. "I Fooled Millions Into Thinking Chocolate Helps Weight Loss. Here's How," io9.com, (27 May 2015)
  NOTE: A reprint of the original article cited in the Bohannon article above is available here.
  
  

Scientism

• Austin L. Hughes. "The Folly of Scientism," The New Atlantis, Fall 2012, 32–50.
• Philip Kitcher . "The Trouble with Scientism," The New Republic, May 24, 2012, 20–25.
  Is science the best methodology to use for selecting your mate? Should "selection of the fittest" principles apply with regard to charity? These are the types of questions that spark debates between scientific 'purists' (whose scientifically argued positions are pejoratively termed "scientism") and philosophers. What follows are two articles that critique scientism and attempt to settle a longstanding idealogical turf war. The first, lengthy article by Austin L. Hughes was published in The New Atlantis in 2012 and continues to serve as a rallying point for critics of scientism. The second article by Phillip Kitcher, from The New Republic, also published in 2012, advocates reconciled, "healthy relationships between the sciences and the humanities" (25).
  
  

Scientific Publishing and Predatory Open-Access Publishers

• "List of Standalone Journals," Scholarly Open Access: Critical analysis of scholarly open-access publications, Jeffrey Beall
  NOTE: I have included the Beall lists here to support in-class discussions of how medical science has been impacted by the explosion in predatory open-access journals. For clarification, be certain to also see Beall's online essay, "Criteria for Determining Predatory Open-Access Publishers" (3rd Ed., 01 January 2015)
  
  
• "Paper written as science hoax published by 157 science journals," UPI (03 Oct. 2013)

Sustainable Science Communication Conference, UCSB, May 13–14, 2015

• Martha Russell, "Audience Co-creation of Sustainable Science Stories" Session III, 22:00–39:03
  NOTE: Martha Russell is Executive Director of MediaX at Stanford University. In this presentation she outlines the crucial elements of effective scientific storytelling and demonstrates how and why "the story you tell may not be the story that is heard."
  
• Richard Hutton, "Is Content King...or Courtier? Making Science Assessible" Session I, 35:30–57:00.
  NOTE: Richard Hutton is Executive Director of UCSB's Center of Environmental Communication and Education, and Adjunct Professor of Film and Media Studies. In this presentation he provides examples from his work as executive producer of the NOVA documentary series "Evolution" (2001). As he summarizes, the best science stories share "an arc, compelling characters, quest, challenge, drama, and a reasoanbly satisfying conclusion."
  
  
• Sonia Fernandez, "Science for the People: Making Scientific Research Assessible to the Layperson" Session II, 39:15–58:40.
  NOTE: Sonia is a science journalist at UCSB's Office of...
  
  
• Julian Friedman, "The mystery of storytelling: Julian Friedmann at TEDxEaling," YouTube.com, 27 Nov. 2012
  NOTE: Julian Friedmann is co-owner of the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency. In this presentation, he provides some frank and hard-hitting advice on what makes a story succeed. Although his examples are drawn from mainstream media, much of what he has to say is applicable to telling scientific stories.
  
  
• Perhaps the best way to appreciate good storytelling in science is to read, watch and listen to it. We will discuss examples in class, including your favorites. Meanwhile, here are a few links to online sources of scientific storytelling:

• Discover magazine
• National Geographic
• Popular Science
• Smithsonian magazine

Rose Hendricks, "Getting a scientific message across means taking human nature into account," The Conversation, Jan. 10, 2017

• Sustainable Science Communication Conference, UCSB, May 13–14, 2015

  • Lucy Atkinson, "Picture This: Using Infographics, Visuals and Text to Communicate Effective Sustainability Campaigns" Session III, 39:05–56:31 *Research results begin at 46:32.
    Lucy Atkinson teaches at the University of Texas, Austin. In this presentation, she outlines her research with Allison Joan Lazard comparing efficacy of information delivered in text-based versus visual formats.
    
    
  • How Things Work, Vol. I–IV (excerpts), Bibliographisches Institut and Simon and Shuster, Inc., Illustrations researched by Roger Jean Segalat. 1990.

   

  • Gregor Aisch, Amanda Cox and Kevin Quealy, "You Draw It: How Family Income Predicts Children's College Chances," (NY Times) 28 May 2015
    This interactive graphic enhances understanding and retention by prompting audiences to draw a best-guest data plot, which is then compared with actual data.

• Genesis 6–8
• Michael Lewis. "Field of Ignorance," Chapter 4 in Moneyball: the art of winning an unfair game. 2003. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

• 2017 UCSB GradSlam Award Winner Video Showcase
  NOTE: Watch past winners of the annual UCSB GradSlam competition show off their best public speaking skills in a brief, quasi-"ignite talk" format. Not to be missed!
• "Life After Death by PowerPoint 2010," Don McMillan YouTube Channel (2010)
  
• "What makes a great talk, great: Chris Anderson at TEDGlobal 2013"
  

Sustainable Science Communication Conference, UCSB, May 13–14, 2015

• Scott Shell, [tips on giving an educational talk] Session IV, 01:42–12:33
  NOTE: Scott Shell is an Associate Professor within UCSB's Dept. of Chemical Engineering.

• "Katie Couric on how to conduct a good interview," Katie Couric YouTube Channel (26 June 2009)

Sustainable Science Communication Conference, UCSB, May 13–14, 2015

• Andrew Nelson, "How Science-based Sustainability Solutions Can Have Impact—And Why They May Not" Session IV, 30:45–57:46
  NOTE: In this compelling, articulate presentation, Andrew Nelson explains why "science communications is fundamental to science commercialization." Using the example of green chemistry, he demonstrates how professionals can reinvent their disciplines by rethinking them.

• "Rethinking Museum's from a Visitor's Perspective," Ruben Smit; "The Interactive Museum Experience," John Falk & Lynn Dierking
• Allen, S. (2004). "Designs for learning: Studying science museums exhibits that do more than entertain." Science Education 88 Supplement 1(July): S17-S33

• "Top 10 Tips to Great Museum Exhibit Design," Maria Lorena Lehman (2009 Aug 31) <http://sensingarchitecture.com>
• "The UX Files: User Experience Nerd and Museum Exhibit Developer Find Common Ground," Mary Oakland & Shana West (2013 May 24) <http://blog.nerdery.com>
• "Next Generation Science Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten through Grade Twelve (CA NGSS)," California Dept. of Education

Endurance (Scott Kelly, 2017, ISBN: 978-1-524-73159-5) is astronaut Scott Kelly's description of his year aboard the ISS as part of a psysiological study that included his earth-bound twin astronaut brother, Mark; it also traces the arc of his career. It is one of the most honest and frank personal accounts of space travel ever published.

UCSB Reserve Desk Call No. TL789.85 K45 A3 2017

The Martian (Andy Weir, 2014, ISBN: 978-0-553-41802-6) is a fine example of fiction that attempts to stay true to the actual science of space travel while maintaining elements of good, dramatic storytelling. The novel was made into a film of the same name starring Matt Damon in 2015.

UCSB Reserve Desk Call No. PS3623 E432449 M37 2014

Mindwalk (1990; Bernt Amadeus Capra, Dir.) is not your typical movie. It is a broad-ranging Socratic dialog between three contemporary characters at the castle of Mont-Saint Michel in France. Their spell-binding discussions confront how science has reshaped our worldview and is not to be missed!

NOTE: You may either view Mindwalk online, e.g., at YouTube, or in the Kerr Hall viewing lab, Rm. 1126.

How to Write & Publish a Scientific Paper (7th Edition), Robert A. Day and Barbara Gastel
ISBN: 978-0313391972

NOTE: If you ever intend to write and/or contribute to a peer-reviewed research journal article, this is a must-have book. It provides an excellent reference for both seasoned and first-time authors; I recommend it to all graduate students and academics with whom I consult. A seventh edition of this text is available at the Reserve Desk of Davidson Library for two-hour check-out.