Archive for Science Communication
David Suzuki
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| Born: March 24, 1936 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. |
| Fields: Natualism, Scince Communication |
Biography
David Suzuki is a third generation Japanese Canadian naturalist, activist and science communicator. He is most notable for his climate change activism, as well as numerous books and media appearances, including the long-running CBC documentary series, The Nature of Things. In an effort to lead by example, Suzuki has limited his travelling, which he claims he has done more than enough of to exceed his carbon limit “by hundreds of tonnes”. He no longer vacations overseas and chooses locations close to each other for speaking engagements. Video conferencing is his favorite method of spreading his message.
According to Suzuki, climate change skeptics and deniers are policy makers who receive funding from the oil and gas industry and have practically nothing to do with climate science. In a famous February 2008 speech at the McGill University in Montreal, Suzuki urged the students to speak out against politicians’ lack of action to address climate change, stating ”What I would challenge you to do is to put a lot of effort into trying to see whether there’s a legal way of throwing our so-called leaders into jail because what they’re doing is a criminal act.”
Since 1974, Suzuki has received numerous honorary degrees from universities in Canada, the United States and Australia. He also has over 52 books on his resume, starting with An Introduction to Genetic Analysis in 1986. His most recent work is The Legacy: An Elder’s Vision for a Better Future, where Suzuki presents his vision of a better future. The book was published in 2010, in a partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation, a Vancouver-based environmental organization founded by Suzuki in 1991.
Michio Kaku
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| Born: Jan 24, 1947 in San Jose, CA, USA. |
| Fields: Physics, Science Comm. |
Biography
Michio Kaku is an American (born to Japanese immigrants with Tibetan ancestry) theoretical physicist and science communicator. He is responsible for popularizing his field of science with a number of famous books, including the New York Time bestsellers Physics of the Impossible (2008) and Physics of the Future (2010). He has hosted specials on BBC, the Discovery Channel, Science Channel and History Channel.
As a high school student, Kaku built a particle accelerator in his parents’ garage. This earned him a Hertz Engineering Scholarship. He graduated from Harvard University at the top of his physics class before moving on to obtaining a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and a lectureship from Princeton, both in 1972.
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Chris Hadfield
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| Born: 29 August 1959, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada |
| Fields: Science Communication |
Biography
Chris Hadfield is a retired Canadian astronaut who commanded the International Space Station from December 2012 until May 2013 and the first Canadian to walk in space, spending a total of 14 hours and 50 minutes outisde his vessel. Despite numerous awards and honors including the Order of Ontario and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, he is best known for his contributions to science communication, having been dubbed ”perhaps the most social media savvy astronaut ever to leave Earth” by Forbes. As of June 2013, he has over a million Twitter followers. Shortly after handing over command of the ISS to Russian astronaught Pavel Vinogradov, Hadfield released a video of himself performing David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, recorded in the Space Station’s zero gravity conditions. The video currently has over 15 million views on YouTube. He also has one of the most popular Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) threads. These accomplishments make Hadfield one of the most successful science communicators since the rise of social media.
Before becoming an astronaut, Hadfield enjoyed a successful career in the Royal Canadian Air Force and as a pilot in general. He was the first Canadian to intercept a Soviet Tu-95 long range bomber over the arctic while flying intercept missions for NORAD and flew over 70 different aircaft over his career.
Awards
Up to Biography - down to Books
1996: Order of Ontario
2001: Vanier Award
2002: NASA Exceptional Service Medal
2003: Queen’s Jubilee Medal
Books
Up to Biography – Up to Awards
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#GoodMorningEarth: Chris Hadfield | Synopsis and Bibliography |
Richard Dawkins
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| Born: 26 March 1941 in Nairobi, Kenya |
| Fields: Bilogoy, Science Communication |
Biography
Richard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist and author born in Nairobi, Kenya. His scientific career revolves mostly around genes and the theory of evolution. He first came to prominence 1976 by popularizing the gene-centered view of evolution and coining the term meme in his book The Selfish Gene. He followed that up in 1982 with the introduction of a theory that certain elements of the gene can spread into the body’s environment and even other living bodies – this was the subject of The Extended Phenotype.
Throughout his career Dawkins has attracted a great deal of attention by advocating atheism and criticizing the theory of creationism. Read More→
Carl Sagan
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| Born: November 9, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York, USA Died: December 20, 1996 in Seattle, Washington, USA |
| Fields: Astronomy, Scientific Communication |
Biography
Carl Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist and science communicator. He was born in 1934 in Brooklyn, New York to Rachel Molly Gruber and Samuel Sagan, an immigrant garment worker from Russia, modern day Ukraine. He spent most of his career as an astronomy professor and Planetary Studies laboratory director at Cornell University (Ithaca, New York), but he is best known for popularizing science. He did this through a number of well-received books and TV shows, such as the award winning 1980 television show Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which Sagan co-wrote and narrated. His goal was to get people to understand the cosmos better. In all his works, he tried to emphasize the worthiness of the human race, while highlighting the insignificance of Earth compared to the universe. Sagan justified his passion for scientific communication with a number of reasons. The first was that engaging the public would result in more scientific funding and public support. The other was the pure experience of conveying one’s excitement about the universe.
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Neil deGrasse Tyson
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| Born: Oct 5 1958 in New York City |
| Fields: Astronomy, science communication |
Biography
Neil deGrasse Tyson in as American astrophysicist, who also hosted Nova ScienceNow, an educational science show, on PBS from 2006 to 2011.
Tyson was born in Manhattan, New York to gerontologist Sunchita Feliciano Tyson and sociologist Cyril deGrasse Tyson, but was raised in the Bronx. After a visit to the Hayden Planetarium (where he is now the director) at the age of 9, he became obsessed with astronomy and later in his life (1972 – 1976) attended the Bronx High School of Science with emphasis on astrophysics. Read More→
