Science communication has changed out of all recognition over the past quarter of a century that I have been actively involved in it. In this talk I will discuss how and why science communication, particularly in the UK, has undergone such a revolution. I will also say something about the way science and scientists have been perceived by the general public during the coronavirus pandemic. We hear terms like 'following the science' or 'heeding the advice of experts', but what do they really mean? So, what has changed and is it a change for the better? I will also address the wider issues surrounding the importance of communicating science to society.
Jim Al-Khalili OBE FRS is a theoretical physicist at the University of Surrey where he holds a Distinguished Chair in physics as well as a university chair in the public engagement in science. He received his PhD in nuclear reaction theory in 1989 and has published widely in the field. His current interest is in open quantum systems and the application of quantum mechanics in biology. In 2018, he helped establish at Surrey the world’s first doctoral training centre in quantum biology and recently set up a new Quantum Foundations Centre. Jim is also a prominent author and broadcaster. He has written 14 books on popular science and the history of science, between them translated into twenty-six languages. His latest book, The World According to Physics, has been shortlisted for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize. He is a regular presenter of TV science documentaries, such as the Bafta nominated Chemistry: a volatile history, and he hosts the long-running weekly BBC Radio 4 programme, The Life Scientific. Jim is a past president of the British Science Association and trustee of the Institute of Physics as well as a member of the judging panel of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. He is a recipient of the Royal Society Michael Faraday medal and the Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal, the Institute of Physics Kelvin Medal and the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication. He received an OBE in 2007 for ‘services to science’.
