Scientific mediation

The scientific mediation (or popularization ) is the whole of the actions making it possible to the public to reach the Culture scientific, technical, industrial and environmental, i.e. with the To know S, Savoir-faire and Knowledge-being of these same disciplines. Or, in the other direction, one defines the scientific mediation as the bond which carries out a person (teacher, organizer, journalist, researcher, etc) between science in the broad sense (scientific community, knowledge academic, enquiring, etc) and profane public.

Why scientific mediation ?

Recently, in certain mediums of the scientific culture, one tends to prefer the term of " médiation" with that of " vulgarisation". Not with the legal direction of the term, but within the meaning of a bond true, established between science and the company. Placed " with the milieu" protagonists by the etymology even of its denomination, the " mediator scientifique" facilitate the contacts of science with the company, reduced incomprehension, listens to the concerns of the not-scientists, divides and discusses its values with them, takes as a starting point their designs to work out his speech and finally, erases the borders between the community of the researchers and those which use or are touched by their discoveries.

However this design poses a problem; it appears to exclude the fact that certain scientists popularize themselves their own science.

But the expression " mediation scientifique" has evil to be essential; a Google research reveals that it is almost 10 times less present than the expression " popularization scientifique" , and 60 times less present than the word " vulgarisation". Within many major institutions, " vulgarisation" remain the expression of choice, University of Geneva to the Athena review of Management wallone while passing by the French ministry of the Foreign affairs or the organization subventionnaire Canadian CRSNG.

Moreover, the definition of " mediation scientifique" pose problem with those which, among the scientific journalists, are defined as independent professionals, whereas the definition can let suppose that a mediator is " with the service de" the scientific research.

Objectives

The mediation brings to the scientific research an additional dimension, by ensuring that the result can be divided by the greatest number. During mediation is the possibility for the citizen of seizing of a stake the scientific community, which to develop with the occasion in certain partnerships between research and citizens. But this last track remains still marginal, compared to the space occupied by popularization more " classique" (magazines, emissions of TV, books, museums of science, universities popular, course public, etc).

The main aims of the scientific mediation are thus directed towards a popularization of knowledge:

  • to inform the public of the actual position of the scientific knowledge

  • to establish conditions which will make it possible the profane public to be able to dialog with the scientists and the specialists
  • to inform the public of feedback between its reactions vis-a-vis progress and the use which will be made of this progress in the company

Means and actors

This approach of the mediation is of nature teaching, very near in that to the cultural Médiation, the latter being named for arts and the general culture.

Scientific museums

August 1st It is the whole of the temporary exhibitions or permanent. Their history starts with the cabinets of curiosities of the Age of Enlightenment.

France developed centers of scientific culture, technique and industrial (CCSTI). Most famous are the Palais of Discovered the and the Cité of sciences and industry of the Villette. The United States renewed the kind these last decades with institutions such as Exploratorium of San Francisco, which want to be more close to an experiment accessible by the directions - and where the children can touch without being likely to break some artefact.

Publications and media

Internet sites

Science-Press only scientific news agency of French language in the world arranges. It feeds from other media in information since 1978.

Blogues

Science! One blogist

; Reviews of popularization

; Television programs

; Films

; Radio broadcasts

  • France
    • France Inter:
      • P' tits Boats, Noëlle Bréham
      • the Head squared, Mathieu Vidard

Famous popularizers

  • Eugene Aisberg (1905 - 1980) was a journalist French of Ukrainian origin . By the means of “talks” between Ignotus and Curiosus , this author makes us discover and include/understand the principles which govern the world of TSF initially, of the Transistor then and finally of the Télévision through a whole series of works which caused multiple vocations.

  • Camille Flammarion (1842-1925). Brother of the editor of the same name. Member of many learned societies and associations for the popularization of positive sciences, it founds the Astronomical Company of France in 1887 and especially publishes the Popular Astronomie in 1880, work often republished and supplemented, leaving this scientific discipline his yoke of specialists. Initiate in that astronomy amateur by diffusing some the theoretical and practical bases.

  • Fontenelle (1657 - 1757). Regarded as one of the " father fondateur" popularization. Member of Accadémie of Science and Accadémie Frenchwoman. Its most famous work are the talks on the plurality of the inhabited worlds . Republished at many resumption of alive sound, they put in scene an astronomer and a marchioness whose relations are scientist almost as much that courteous.

  • George Gamow (1904 - 1968) was a American physicist of Russian origin , us makes discover, through the adventures of the character of Mr. Tompkins , the relativistic Quantum physics and , as well as multiple aspects of the relatively recent concepts of modern physics.

  • Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002), by many works, articles and chronicles in newspapers bound for a general public, presented its reflections on geology, the biology and the history of sciences, and sutout on the modern theory of the evolution of which it was one of the reformers in the scientific world.

  • Jane Marcet (1769-1858) stuck to put at the range of many people the most advanced knowledge time. Its books were translated into several languages.

  • Yakov Perelman (1882-1942) was a Russian professor who wrote many books of popularization in mathematics, physics and astronomy.

  • Pierre Rousseau, in his work " Jean-François astronomer " , explains us the bases of the Astronomie, with practical works with the support.

  • Carl Sagan (1934-1996), American astronomer become a media celebrity as from the years 1970 thanks to its televised appearances, its popularizing works and its documentary series Cosmos (PBS), diffused and repeated in more than 60 countries.

  • Fernand Seguin (1922-1988), biologist of formation contributes largely to the scientific paper with the Quebec and the Canada French by its emissions with Radio-Canada.

Scientific animation

August 1st Exit of the popular education, scientific animation can pass by clubs, workshops, vacation centres, interventions in the schools… which give the desire and the means to the participants (often of the children or the teenagers) of discovering and of contruire knowledge by the practice. In France, the movements of popular education which are interested in this question of the scientific discovery and technique created in 1985 Cirasti, Mouvement French of the Exposcience S

Scientific animation also rests on many events very public, like, for example, the regional Exposcience S which gather presentations of their activities by the young people themselves, the Nuits of the stars in August or the Fête of Science in October.

Critical

Parallel to a whole praxis of popularization, although not very known general public, exists a school abstract, protean, various obediences, which challenges popularization with excess because being able to be intrumentalized for various reasons (political, institutional, etc). Authors like Pierre Bourdieu (sociologist French), Daniel Jacobi (semiotician) are representatives; the review Alloy, published by Jean-Marc Levy-Leblond, the Foundation sciences citizens as well as Cirasti with its national meetings of scientific and technical animation and its observatory of Exposciences also fit in this critical current.

Other observers like Anne Cauquelin and Roger Lenglet (Public opinion) added to this critical approach of popularization, of the original reflections on the appropriation of the information popularized by the public itself. Appropriation wild and deforming by each and everyone which hawks in its turn the messages towards other speakers with the contempt of the scientific requirements or by réarticulant them in new reasoning with the unforeseeable relevance.

See too

  • Center of scientific culture, technique and industrial (CCSTI)

Reference

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