New York Times Contact
The contact I mentioned at the meeting that was interested in hearing more about our Two Cultures symposium was Cornelia Dean, Science Writer and former Science Editor of the New York Times. For a lecture at Nicholas last fall, she used “The Two Cultures” as a springboard for a discussion of science writing and public understanding of science. I spoke to her about our symposium and she wanted me to get in touch with her with more info when I could, as she does find “The Two Cultures” of interest.
Video of the lecture is posted here.
She also wrote the book, “Against the Tide: The Battle for American’s Beaches” which was published in 1999 by Columbia University Press and was a N.Y. Times Notable Book of the year.
Here’s links to her recent articles.
I couldn’t find a full bio, but some might find interesting her essay on being a female science editor and the experiences of women trying to break into mathematics in academia, written in the wake of Larry Summer’s unfortunate remarks a couple of years ago:
I’m not sure what her situation would be regarding a keynote. She may require travel, though I know she has family in the area and so may come down frequently. I would like to let her know about the symposium in advance, whether she is interested in the keynote or not.
Cheers,
Beth
Beth,
Thanks for the post. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Cornelia Dean’s lecture. I thought her insights on “problems with the public” regarding science were very interesting, especially the comments on the public’s highly misguided ideas about risk. As a nurse, I have definitely noticed this concept played out in people’s ideas about preventing disease (for example, a family that limited travel for fear of the bird flu while smoking heavily around their children). She made a great case for interdisciplinarity by stating that journalists could play a major role in dispelling many of the public’s problems with understanding science, but then outlining the problems that journalists inherently face in doing so, which in turn could be dispelled with the help of scientists.
I am interested to know if any of you scientists have faced the Carl Sagan problem she outlined about colleagues being less than supportive of you bringing your research and knowledge to the media?
Anyway, thanks again, Beth. I think listening to this lecture was definitely time well spent. I would be very interested in hearing from Cornelia Dean at the symposium (I only wish I could be there!)
Melissa