Escape from the Ivory Tower: A Guide to Making Your Science Matter

---

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem?

JSTOR: Access Check

Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page.

Passar bra ihop

Escape from the Ivory Tower: Many researchers have the horror stories to prove it. They follow different sets of rules, pursue different goals, and speak their own language. To effectively reach journalists and public officials, scientists need to learn new skills and rules of engagement. No matter what your specialty, the keys to success are clear thinking, knowing what you want to say, understanding your audience, and using everyday language to get your main points across. In this practical and entertaining guide to communicating science, Baron explains how to engage your audience and explain why a particular finding matters.

She explores how to ace your interview, promote a paper, enter the political fray, and use new media to connect with your audience. The book includes advice from journalists, decision makers, new media experts, bloggers and some of the thousands of scientists who have participated in her communication workshops. Many of the researchers she has worked with have gone on to become well-known spokespeople for science-related issues.

Whether you are an absolute beginner or a seasoned veteran looking to hone your skills, Escape From the Ivory Tower can help make your science understood, appreciated and perhaps acted upon. Paperback , pages. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

To ask other readers questions about Escape from the Ivory Tower , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about Escape from the Ivory Tower. Lists with This Book. Dec 29, Marit rated it really liked it Shelves: Baron's book is a sort of how-to guide on ways in which academic scientists or scientists of any kind, mainly ones focused in biology can break out of the "ivory tower" and get involved with making their science available, relevant, and understandable to The Public.

The book is simply and logically organized, focusing on ways to reach paper journalists, radio, politicians, and new-media outlets.

See a Problem?

I highly recommend this books for other scientists, even non-biology oriented ones. All of the exam Baron's book is a sort of how-to guide on ways in which academic scientists or scientists of any kind, mainly ones focused in biology can break out of the "ivory tower" and get involved with making their science available, relevant, and understandable to The Public. All of the examples Baron uses are folks working in conservation or environmentally-related fields but still, the tidbits in this book could help those who span the gamut in the scientific realm.

Oct 02, Patty rated it really liked it Shelves: The blurb for this book promised a "practical and entertaining guide to communicating science" explaining "how to engage your audience and explain why a particular finding matters". I was hoping for tips on how to write and speak when communicating scientific information to people who are not themselves experts in the field. You know, advice for public lectures, wide-appeal books, magazine articles — things like that.

Escape from the Ivory Tower: A Guide to Making Your Science Matter

Unfortunately it turns out the 'explaining' was quite literal; while I was exp The blurb for this book promised a "practical and entertaining guide to communicating science" explaining "how to engage your audience and explain why a particular finding matters". Unfortunately it turns out the 'explaining' was quite literal; while I was expecting a writing advice book, this is all about how one should talk to journalists or politicians.

Most of Escape from the Ivory Tower concerns how to give interviews, how to sound good on the radio, and what to do if a journalist misquotes you. There was extremely little that was relevant to scientists who want to directly address the public themselves: As for how to write books or give lectures, the main reasons I picked up the book — those topics were not addressed at all. But if you want tips for how to adapt yourself to TV interviews versus print interviews, or how to set up a meeting with a senator, this is the book for you! Aug 30, Lis Carey rated it really liked it Shelves: The research scientists do often needs to be communicated to policy makers, the media, and the general public in order to be useful.

Unfortunately, the way that scientists learn to communicate with their peers is generally diametrically opposed to how they need to communicate with those outside the scientific world. This book is aimed at helping them speak more effectively to the non-scientists among us.

Escape from the Ivory Tower

Scientists and non-scientists frequently experience frustration and annoyance when trying to The research scientists do often needs to be communicated to policy makers, the media, and the general public in order to be useful. Scientists and non-scientists frequently experience frustration and annoyance when trying to talk to each other about science. Scientists are trained to present their findings methodically, completely, starting with the question and the study design first, and reserving the conclusion for the end of their paper or presentation.

They are trained to cite all prior work that they relied on. They are trained to present information unemotionally; they even write their papers in the passive voice. This is all completely appropriate for scientific research and the academic world, and an utter disaster for communicating vital information effectively to politicians, journalists, and the general public.

This book is directed at making those skills more widely accessible. While she primarily has in mind environmental scientists, the essential points here are applicable to any scientists who need to talk about their science to journalists or policy makers, and through them, to the general public. It's a clear and highly readable book, that wastes no time in making its key points--which is, in itself, one of her key points. Because scientific study design, fundraising, carrying out experiments, and academic publication naturally and unavoidably move slowly and take a lot of time, the high-pressure deadlines of journalism or the legislative process are unfamiliar to scientists.

In journalism, publication or air time waits for no man In the legislative process, the total time to pass a bill may be long, but critical decisions often have short deadlines and the window of opportunity for someone who is not in the halls of Congress or state legislatures on a daily basis to affect the process are narrow. Senators and representatives have packed schedules every day that they're in Washington.

Critical meetings may happen walking from one place to another.

Scientists with no prior political experience may think they're being brushed off when asked to meet with a staffer, when in reality making a good connection with the staffer that handles your area of interest can be the most effective way of being heard in the policy-making process. Another difficulty is that scientists are so aware of the uncertainties of science that they have a natural desire to qualify everything they say, outline areas of doubt, etc.

Subscribe to our mailing list

Escape from the Ivory Tower is essential reading for scientists who want their work understood by the public and decision makers. Aspiring journalists and public information officers will also find valuable insights into scientific culture and the way their own work is perceived Escape from the Ivory Tower should be embraced by a broad scientific audience; it's impossible to predict when Nancy Baron knows that, and she has delivered that book.

The result is unlike anything you've read before—and it is something you need to begin reading now. This is not a book for your bookshelf. It is a book for your backpack, your briefcase, your graduate students, and the trunk of your car This is a book to be read, enjoyed, and dogeared— assuming, of course, you want your science to matter. Almost all of us can improve our outreach efforts Escape from the Ivory Tower has helpful hints for all of us interested in various levels of outreach.

Kundrecensioner

Consider adding it to your library as an investment to bring credible science to public discourse. Baron's insight into both ends of scientific communication offers a helpful starting point for anyone interested in more effective communication with the public or with scientists. I tend to go back to it again and again—like a cookbook you would never expect to memorize but use frequently—as I try to craft clear messages for press releases, prepare for radio interviews, or speak to policymakers about wildlife health issues.

Book Description Review Quotes Contents. Escape from the Ivory Tower is essential reading for scientists who want their work understood by the public and decision makers. Her fingerprints can be found on nearly every preeminent paper and salient symposium. Not since Sir Peter Medawar published the classic Advice to a Young Scientist has so much wisdom been shared so concisely. Whether you are a scientist or writer, young or old, you don't have to read this book--unless you are committed to saving our blue planet.

A former journalist, Nancy Baron is a motivated promoter for clearly communicating the public implications of scientific findings. She has spent most of the past eight years training scientists to better communicate science to the media and the public. During this time she has worked with more 4, scientists and many journalists and NGO professionals.

Escape from the Ivory Tower is a direct result of her experience. Four Steps to Funding: Business Vocabulary in Use:

• Lilies in Moonlight: A Novel
• Charms, Spells, and Formulas (Llewellyns Practical Magick)
• Concerto C Major BWV 594 - Organ
• Behavioural Technical Analysis: An introduction to behavioural finance and its role in technical ana
• Fragmented Worlds, Coherent Lives: The Politics of Difference in Botswana