The Hands-On Guide for Science Communicators: A Step-by-Step Approach to Public Outreach - Softcover

Lindberg Christensen, Lars

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0387263241 ISBN 13: 9780387263243

Publisher: Springer, 2007

Synopsis

This hands-on guide offers practical advice on all aspects of science communication. It features a tightly interwoven fabric of issues: product types, target groups, written communication, visual communication, validation processes, practices of efficient workflow, distribution, promotion, advertising, and much more. Extremely practical, the guide provides the necessary "shortcuts" to produce outreach products of high quality. All concepts are explained with simple terms and illustrative examples while check lists and short "to-the-point" overviews enable rapid progress and quick results. New science communicators as well as seasoned presenters will find this guide both helpful and inspirational.

About this title

Review

From the reviews:

"Here is a milestone of its kind that can be recommended to anybody involved, to any degree, in scientific communication, particularly in astronomy. ... The guide is completed by a well-furnished glossary, an index, and lists of references and web links. ... The book is very well presented, written in a good-humoured style, with an abundance of illustrations and practical details, together with examples from physics and astronomy. ... this book will also be useful to the ordinary scientist in their daily professional communications." (A. Heck, The Observatory, Vol. 127 (1199), 2007)

"Lars Lindberg Christensen ... has written a tour-de-force of practical information and advice for would-be science communicators. This softcover book offers a spectacular array of charts, tables, checklists, and case examples. ... This is a book where you find both philosophical justifications for science communications and the most detailed practical data ... . I highly recommend it." (Stephen P. Maran, Spark, Issue 7, January, 2009)

From the Back Cover

Lars Lindberg Christensen is a science communication specialist and works in Munich, Germany, as head of communication for the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in Europe.

Many people know something about communication – it is after all an innate human ability – but a full comprehension of how to do science communication effectively is not acquired easily. This Guide touches upon all aspects of science communication, revealing a tightly interwoven fabric of issues: product types, target groups, written communication, visual communication, validation processes, practices of efficient workflow, distribution, promotion, advertising and much more. New science communicators will find this Guide both helpful and inspirational.

"I am overwhelmed at how thorough and how well thought-through this book is. Even with my regular relationships with popular communication and with public relations officers, I hadn’t realized how well documented the field could be until I saw it done here."  -Jay M. Pasachoff, Williams College, President, IAU Commission on Education and Development, author of The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millennium and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Sun

"I would have expected a high standard from a public outreach scientist at the European Space Agency, but this soars way above the normal standard of competence. I have certainly learned a great deal from this guide. It deserves a wide readership among science communicators."  -Simon Mitton, Author of Conflict in the Cosmos: Fred Hoyle’s Life in Science and Editor of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Astronomy"

Christensen uses clear principles and well-chosen examples, along with tables, diagrams, and even a press release visibility scale to convey the art and science of Science Communication in an authoritative and illuminating manner."  -Stephen P. Maran, Press Officer, AAS, Editor, The Astronomy and Astrophysics Encyclopedia

"This book is very well presented, in a good-humored style, with an abundance of practical details. It is a fundamental contribution to the field of science communication towards the public. It is a filling a gap."  -Andre Heck, Astronomer, Editor of Astronomy Communication and the Organization and Strategies in Astronomy series.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0387263241
• ISBN 13: 9780387263243
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 286