China Daily Global Edition (USA)
The popular appliance of science
Scientists are being encouraged to take to the stage in a bid to inspire the next generation, Li Yingxue reports.
The stand-up comedian warmed up the audience at the A33 Theater in Beijing. It was a humorous precursor to the serious business of science that was to follow.
The audience was there to hear the advice, tales and stories proffered by members of the I’m a Scientist show.
The scientists talked, one after another, about their fields, sharing their own experiences.
They discussed the latest scientific achievements in a down-to-earth and entertaining way during the nonprofit show, created in a bid to popularize the sciences.
The subjects of their talks centered on the notion that “your health is not just protected by your doctor”.
You could say this was the very epitome of healthy entertainment.
The first on stage at the Oct 19 show was Ruan Guangfeng, a nutritionist and head of the Information Technology Department at the China Food Information Center.
He shared stories of family dinners and where rumors and tall tales about food were a regular point of discussion.
Huan Shitong, to use show business parlance, was the next act.
A doctor-turned senior project officer, Huan focuses on tackling the scourge of tuberculosis at the Beijing office of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
He explained his work, attempting to disarm the TB “bomb” for 2 billion people in the world.
Huan specialized in treating the disease for five years and noticed that each year, as well as returning patients, there were a growing number of new patients seeking treatment.
So, he joined the foundation hoping that, besides helping treat TB patients, he could also find time to work on how to reduce its occurrence.
“What we are fighting is an invisible enemy,” Huan says.
He felt it was important to get into the science behind the occurrence and the workings of the disease and help prevent it, rather than just treat it.
Kick the habit
The stage was now set for Jiang Yuan, vice-president of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control.
She talked about the side-effects of being a smoker, and that nicotine dependence is a chronic, relapsing disease, doing even more harm, surprisingly, to women than men.
However, she also pointed out that it’s hard for people to kick the habit. During her research, she and her colleagues noticed that smoking was seen as a tool for socializing, allowing people to improve their interpersonal relationships.
The last scientist to take the stage was Niu Wenyi, a retired professor at the School of Public Health at the Peking University Health Science Center.
In terms of pure audience reception, this was the star turn as he received the most laughs and applause. His aim was to popularize the fields of food and medical science.
Niu showed a poetic streak and turned his knowledge into easily-remembered and catchy doggerels.
“I’ve been writing the doggerels for more than three decades, and all I want is to teach more people to learn how to protect themselves,” Niu says.
The show was not just one-way traffic and a Q & A session followed.
Among the audience, Shi Yifan, a senior student studying at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, asked Huan if he should jump straight into medical research in the future or whether he should practice in a hospital first.
“Huan’s speech really inspired me,” says Shi, 22.
“As a medical school student, I’ve been thinking about how to help more people, even though I’m not a public health major. I realized today how detailed disease prevention work is.”
After the show, many audience members voluntarily gathered around the scientists to ask questions pertaining to their personal interests.
Shi was among them, thanking Niu and the other scientists in person.
“I was confused about my career as a doctor, but your speeches and your answers have assured me that I just need to be down-to-earth and focus on what I’m learning and practicing,” Shi said.
“There are many possibilities in the future for me to find a path to help people.” I’m a Scientist is hosted by the Department of Science and Technology Popularization at the China Association for Science and Technology and organized by Guokr, a company that seeks to popularize science among youngsters in interesting and different ways.
Eighteen shows have been delivered since its launch in 2018, and each one has attracted more than 200 audience members.
Previous topics have ranged in scope from space travel to Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein.
Wu Ou, deputy editor-in-chief of Guokr, is the head of the program’s executive team. She always sits at the front for each show.
During the lectures, she looks around to gauge the audience reaction.
Wu says: “You can see a flicker in their eyes, especially the younger members, and that makes the project more meaningful.”
Talent search
With more than 10 years’ experience of reporting science, in 2015 Wu started leading a team inside Guokr to create a WeChat public account highlighting and promoting scientists as role models. The team produces articles popularizing science, either written by the editors or by scientists themselves.
She always had the long-term plan to bring the scientists to the stage.
“Ten years ago, it was hard to find many scientists who were willing to participate in science popularization projects, but when we started doing this in 2018, we noticed that more scientists were keen to share their stories with a wider audience,” Wu says.
In Wu’s team, there are two “star scouts” whose main job is to search for scientists whose field is related to the topic of each show and who can give a speech about their specialization.
“We have built an internal database listing all the scientists — across all areas of expertise — who we have interviewed or contacted, which helps us to find exactly the right people to take part in the shows,” Wu says.
“It’s a stage for both famous scientists and young science researchers.”
The scientists who have joined the project also like to recommend Wu’s team to their peers.
Topics that are of interest are the key to the show and preparation for each show takes around a month.
After both the topic and the lineup of scientists are decided, the talent agent visits the scientists’ offices, takes a short video interview and shoots a profile photo.
“The scientists are always busy with their work, so we try to make things quick in order to not occupy too much of their time,” Wu says.
Each scientist has 18 minutes on stage.
Wu is always thinking about how to make the show retain its vitality.
Actors or pop stars are sometimes invited to engage in a Q & A with the scientists. Getting on the stage of I’m a Scientist is also a way to help the scientists practice their public speaking skills, and Wu hosts training courses for them that illustrate how best to spread their scientific message to the public.
Scientific literacy
Zhang Bin, a division chief for the Informatization of Science Communication at the China Association for Science and Technology, looked to the internet for inspiration.
“We asked ourselves, ‘why don’t we promote some internet celebrity scientists?’ They are smart and witty,” Zhang recalls.
“So, we decided to build a platform for the scientists to present themselves and spread knowledge at the same time.”
Zhang says people’s impression of Chinese scientists is that they are consumed by their work and have little time to lead a “normal” life.
“But that’s not true for modern scientists,” he adds.
“Science is fun, and scientists are warm and interesting, especially young scientists — they are energetic.”
The Chinese Academy of Sciences launched a program named SELF (Science, Education, Life and Future) in 2014.
Zhang says the I’m a Scientist project is not in competition with SELF as it has a show business allure.
“There are more than enough science-publicity projects right now, and we need to discover more scientists that can give a speech,” Zhang says.
I’m a Scientist has become popular in the field. Institutions, such as the Chinese Science and Technology Museum and the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum, among others, have approached the production team with offers to host the event, Zhang notes. I’m a Scientist is part of the China Science Communication program launched by the China Association for Science and Technology in 2015.
The program focuses on spreading science and technology through online platforms such as websites, WeChat and cloud services.
The program also aims to increase scientific literacy and knowledge in China, Zhang says.
“Scientific literacy,” according to the US’ National Center for Education Statistics, “is the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision-making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity”.
Zhang says the China Association for Science and Technology has developed a standard to measure the scientific literacy in China, adapted from US professor Jon Miller’s measurement of civic scientific literacy.
“If we say someone has scientific literacy, that means they have scientific knowledge, methods, thoughts, spirit and the ability to solve their personal issues, as well as join in with social affairs,” Zhang explains.
In Zhang’s mind it’s important for a person to have scientific literacy, and the spirit of science is not separate from daily life.
“The spirit of science is also the spirit of questioning and verifying,’’ Zhang says.
In 2016, a plan issued by the State Council set a goal that by 2020, science literacy levels of Chinese people should exceed 10 percent.
At the 2019 World Conference on Science Literacy held on Oct 16-17 in Beijing, Huai Jinpeng, executive vice-president of the China Association for Science and Technology, and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that, in the past two decades, China has lifted science literacy levels from 0.2 percent in 1992 to 8.47 percent in 2018.
He gave a speech focusing on the importance of science literacy from three dimensions: science literacy for sustainable development, technology for the people and deepening cooperation on science literacy promotion.
Huai says that, as the largest organization for scientific and technical workers, which includes 91 million scientific and technical workers in all fields such as scientific research, industries, commerce and other sectors, the China Association for Science and Technology is the main force pushing the development of science literacy in China.
Science is fun, and scientists are warm and interesting, especially young scientists — they are energetic.” Zhang Bin, division chief for the Informatization of Science Communication at the China Association for Science and Technology