Richard Robinson on directing the Brighton Science Festival
30 Jan 2013 by Evoluted New Media
Richard Robinson, director of the Brighton Science Festival gives us an insight into setting it up...
Why start a science festival in the first place?
Of all the things to celebrate, science would seem - observing empirically - to be the best one. It is a great place for researchers to share ideas, it encourages creative thinking, it exposes us to extraordinary and wonderful things, it explains how we got here, helps us understand who we are, and shows us a way to the future. In the past Science has been defined as 'that which we don't understand the explanations of', but good explainers are not hard to find, and I have found plenty of them. The greatest asset I bring to the Festival is my massive ignorance. I spent twenty five years away from science, and I know what it's like not to understand a scientist.
Festivals like this seem to be gaining in popularity and numbers – do you think the public will continue to be interested in science enough to attend?
They will always proliferate while there is money around. When money gets short they ought to proliferate more, because there will be even more need for skilled and creative scientists to make careful and rational decisions. That may not happen in a cash-starved society.
Do you think scientists should generally be more involved in public engagement events like this?
We the unwashed public think they are fearsome beasts, brimming with long words and incantations and possessed with powers of witchcraft. They think we are stupid and ignorant. Well, we are ignorant, but not stupid; they are full of incantations and jargon, but not possessed of fearsome powers. This separation of the mystics from the groundlings begins way back when classes are streamed at school. Sure we should meet; it's good for both to discover the others are human after all. More than that, it's essential that scientists engage with those they do the science for, and discover that both tribes indulge in fashion, prejudice, dogma and hubris to the same extent.
What is it about science that interests you?
As a psychologist (OK, I've got a degree in psychology) I'm interested in the way people understand science, and the way scientists succeed or fail in explaining it. As a man of the world I want scientists to embrace the moral and ethical side, using science to help us live our lives in harmony with each other and the planet.
The Brighton Science Festival runs from 6 February – 3 March - there’s a month of excellent science events to tweak your interest and tickle your thoughts.
our pick of the schedules includes:
10th Feb – DNA Day. It has been a helter-skelter ride since the day, in 1953, when Crick and Watson announced that the shape of the molecule of life, DNA, had finally been decoded. The double helix is still surprising and challenging us six decades later.
19th Feb – Investigate the Iguanodon. The spiky thumbed Iguanadon was discovered right here in Sussex. Find out more about our local dinosaur in a child-friendly talk featuring artefacts from the Booth Museum Collection.
2nd March – Bad Pharma. Ben Goldacre gets behind the facade of pseudoscientific cosmetics adverts and lays bare the machinations of multinational pharmaceutical corporations.
Go to www.brightonscience.com for ticket details and a full schedule
