Session K12 - POhysicist Writers: Communicating Science in Mystery and Science Fiction.
INVITED session, Sunday afternoon, April 30
101B, LBCC
Science Fiction and Mysteries offer the opportunity to introduce the general reading audience to physicists with engaging personalities--ones who don't want to take over the world, don't leave the house with two different socks on, and aren't social misfits. The authors have written mystery and science fiction novels that foreground science in authentic fashion, including how scientists work and think. This method of reaching the public is overlooked in most earnest discussions of popularizing science, ignoring the fact that most laymen get their views of science through fictional forms--including those from journalists.