“Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those languages, or we remain mute”.  JG Ballard

“Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone”.  Albert Einstein

If they’re both right – and they are – what’s gone wrong?  If science’s key ideas are so simple, useful and easy to express, why is it a language which few young people choose to learn, and even fewer of all ages speak fluently?  Although it continually reshapes our lives, many find science and its consequences increasingly incomprehensible.  What can be done to inspire, enthuse and involve children and adults so they feel ready to participate in the conversation, not mouthing second-hand opinions from the media and elsewhere, but speaking their own minds?

Mobile phones, vaccinations, genetic modification, global warming – everyone, every age, everyday, faces situations where some grasp of science is needed to make informed choices.  It’s not enough to rely on the media to translate.  Reports frequently over-simplify or exaggerate; bombarding core facts with unstable adjectives and unsubstantiated assertions until they mutate into scare stories or fantasies.  Without the basic knowledge to interpret and challenge what we are told, we are sidelined from the debate, relying on others – the scientific community, the government, the media – to do our thinking and talking for us.   

This event explores how improved science communication can break down the language barriers between science and society.  Linked to the Edinburgh International Science Festival, it will demonstrate ways to strengthen the essential connections between science and the public; from nurturing the next generation of scientists, to developing greater mutual understanding between scientists and journalists.  Over four days leading scientists, journalists and science communicators will participate in discussions, workshops and exercises offering practical ways to correct such breakdowns of communication which erode public interest, undermine scientific credibility, and threaten future research.  

Sessions will be emphatically interactive, built on dialogue, exchanges of ideas, and comparisons of existing practices.  The scope will range from broad issues such as how to encourage more public engagement with scientific issues down to the detailed anatomy of individual science stories.  The event will show how making the science menu more appetising will change it from a subject many remember being force-fed at school, to something they will hunger for throughout their lives.