Episode 2 – Biologist Sean B. Carroll

Preview from the show:

What I am very convinced of, from all sorts of experiences of trying to communicate science, is that storytelling is a really valuable ingredient of that. And I don’t mean storytelling in sort of a simplistic way, but just engaging the audience, whether they are students or teachers or laypersons, with the drama of scientific exploration, scientific discovery, even scientific debate. Because it’s pretty darn common that when scientists find something new, something unexpected, there’s a wrestling match for a while, figuring out whether a new view is emerging, or whether someone else is off base. And all of this is a very human enterprise – there’s a whole lot of human nature in the game of science.

-Sean B. Carroll, discussing a textbook adjunct from Benjamin Cummings that will be available next year

I really wish that teachers had fossil collections…I think that when kids put their hands on fossils – something happens.

-Sean B. Carroll, on a wish he has for teachers

Scientific Literacy is broader than just evolution. Evolution is perhaps the poster child for the acute problem that we have. But I think that it’s really hard for a student to grasp, and I think it’s really hard, I think for a citizen to grasp, when they are just getting the moving banner at the bottom of CNN – [like] “scientists say”, “this fossil means that” or “this gene discovery means that.” Those are just punchlines and don’t really understand the size of the entire enterprise or the cumulative knowledge that’s built up and how that’s tested and things. Now you could say – how do you convey all that? Practically speaking, I think part of the way you convey all that is that those who are communicating to the public, and I would say especially the media – have to have a better grasp of it.

-Sean B. Carroll, on scientific literacy

I think getting the scientific method, and knowledge of the scientific method across in the classroom is really more important than any particular science content.

-Sean B. Carroll, on teaching science

I can’t encourage anyone more strongly to read what the judge said about the intelligent design case in Dover… It’s a masterful opinion.

-Sean B. Carroll, on intelligent design in schools

Links:

• Professional Information from UW-Madison:
  • Sean Carroll’s Lab
  • Molecular Biology Department
  • Genetics Department

• SeanBCarroll.com
• Books by Sean B. Carroll (from Google Book Search)
• Sean B. Carroll Books on Amazon.com
• HHMI Holiday Lecture (FREE DVD!)

• The Science of Evolution video from the New York Times
• Interview from Discover Magazine
  • One of the most rewarding aspects of writing for a general audience has been the response of the biology teaching community. I think there is an urgent need to get new, illuminating material into the hands of teachers and their students. I am working on some new paths to do that.
• Charmed by Snakes – Profile in Nature.
  • Q: What’s the one thing about science that you wish the public understood better? A: “The depth and breadth of evidence supporting scientific ideas: compared with, say, the absence of evidence in areas like astrology, UFOs and ghosts.“
• PDF of decision of court in Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District
• Interview from Science Friday
• Interview from Talk of the Nation
• Article from The Scientist
• Q&A Sean Carroll from Library Journal