Communicating Science: Series of Five Videos from the Wellcome Trust

"What you're looking for is a story. Science works through stories."

This series of YouTube videos from the Wellcome Trust explores the work of 5 different artists working in different mediums to communicate with and engage the public in science through different kinds of storytelling. The short videos were uploaded in March and April 2012. They include:

• Popular Science Writing - Author Bill Bryson explains how his passion to understand the world around him led him to tackle the book A Short History of Nearly Everything. In the film, he discusses the need for those who seek to engage the public in science to ask: what about this is really interesting? What is relevant to me? Bryson notes that there is a lot of science information out there and suggests that, to get people to enthralled by "amazing" facts like the very fact that we exist, human interest stories can be powerful. For instance, he notes that writing about the kinds of people Einstein and Newton were - on a personal level - could be a way to get people engaged in the subjects they studied. A final message for science writers: "You have an obligation to entertain them as well as instruct them."
• Blogging and the Internet - "It's a matter of slipping the science into the story to make it as interesting and relevant to the reader as possible". This, according to neuroscience blogger Mo Costandi, who provides insights into what makes a successful blog and how he came to write the Guardian's Neurophilosophy blog. It is noted here that the internet affords a creative outlet for everyone with an interest in writing. "In this new climate, ideas are liberated into the blogosphere, competing for one's attention and, in a kind of web-based natural selection, some flourish while others die in the mires of inaccuracy." Costandi talks about the importance of having a strong online presence before starting a blog - for example, he has set it up so that every time he posts to his blog, this information automatically feeds to his Facebook page and so on. He writes about science but understands that most people do not want to read technical details - they want a story about people.
• Film - "Being a visual medium, effective communication of science through film relies on the filmmaker being able to conjure up relevant and powerful imagery. This imagery might be literal or metaphorical but it must support the Director's vision, the story he is trying to tell. In this short film we meet the highly experienced director, Tim Usborne, on the set of his latest documentary for BBC's Horizon."
• Novels - "When Louisa Young wrote My Dear I Wanted to Tell You..., it was very important to her that the science at the heart of the fiction was factual and accurate. In this short film, Louisa touches on her inspiration for the book and her process for creating a romantic novel set amidst the pain of the Great War."
• Journalism - "The first time we hear about scientific developments or breakthroughs is frequently through the press. Skilled science journalists are in tune with the twists and turns of scientific discovery and able to translate that into universally understandable words within hours: they are right at the front line of science communication. In this short film, veteran science journalist, Tim Radford, tells us the 'three great stories in science' and explains what is, and is not, important when reporting science to the masses."