MAGAZINE OF THE SOCIE TY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC mAGAZiNe OF THe SOCie TY FOR SCieNCe & THe PUbLiC
PUBLISHER elizabeth marincola
EDITOR IN CHIEF Tom Siegfried
EDITORIAL
MANAGING EDITOR eva emerson
SENIOR EDITOR/POLICY Janet Raloff
DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, NEWS matt Crenson
DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, FEATURES elizabeth Quill
DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR erika engelhaupt
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Alexandra witze
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES bruce bower
BIOMEDICINE Nathan Seppa
CHEMISTRY/INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES Rachel ehrenberg
LIFE SCIENCES Susan milius
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY Tina Hesman Saey
NEUROSCIENCE Laura Sanders
PHYSICAL SCIENCES Devin Powell
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Camille m. Carlisle
WEB SPECIALIST/EDITORIAL SECRETARY Gwendolyn K.N. Gillespie
SCIENCE WRITER INTERN Nadia Drake
EDITORIAL INTERN Sandeep Ravindran
CONTRIBUTING CORRESPONDENTS Laura beil, Susan Gaidos,
Charles Petit
DESIGN
DESIGN DIRECTOR beth Rakouskas
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTORS Theresa Dubé, erin Feliciano
ADVERTISING | CIRCULATION
CIRCULATION MANAGER Tosh Arimura
ADVER TISING Jonathan Sismey, Eastern Director;
mike walker, Western Director
ADVERTISING/CIRCULATION ASSOCIATE Kerwin wilson
PERMISSIONS evora Swoopes
BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHAIRMAN H. Robert Horvitz
VICE CHAIR Jennifer Yruegas SECRETARY Gayle wilson
TREASURER michela english MEMBERS Craig R. barrett, S. James Gates Jr.,
Tom Leighton, Alan Leshner, Stephanie Pace marshall, Patrick mcGovern, Joe Palca,
Anne C. Petersen, Robert w. Shaw Jr., Frank wilczek; elizabeth marincola, ex officio
EXECUTIVE OFFICE PRESIDENT elizabeth marincola
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Amy méndez
FINANCE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Greg mitchell
ACCOUNTING MANAGER Lisa m. Proctor SENIOR ACCOUNTANT Sivakami Kumaran
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER Rick bates
OUTREACH DIRECTOR Jennifer Carter COMMUNICATIONS Caitlin Jennings
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS SPECIALIST Nancy moulding
DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR Charles Heidlage
EVENTS MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR Cait Goldberg
ASSOCIATE marisa Gaggi
SCIENCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS DIRECTOR michele Glidden
INTEL SCIENCE TALENT SEARCH MANAGER Caitlin Sullivan
BROADCOM MASTERS MANAGER Stephanie Lemnios
INTERNATIONAL FAIRS MANAGER Sharon Snyder
DOMESTIC FAIRS Laurie Demsey VOLUNTEERS AND SPECIAL AWARDS Diane Rashid
AWARD AND EDUCATION PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION June Kee
INTERNATIONAL FAIRS SPECIALIST Jinny Kim ASSOCIATE Laura buitrago
INTERNAL OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Harry Rothmann
MANAGER, NETWORK ADMINISTRATION James C. moore
LOGISTICS Anthony Payne FACILITIES Paul Roger
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Thomas D. Smith, Amy An, Gregory A. Sprouse
DATABASE ADMINISTRATOR Alan Gordon MAILROOM TECHNICIAN Randy williams
EDITORIAL, ADVERTISING AND BUSINESS OFFICES
1719 N Street Nw, washington, DC 20036 Phone (202) 785-2255
Subscriptions subs@sciencenews.org Editorial/Letters editors@sciencenews.org
Advertising/Business snsales@sciencenews.org
Digital edition provided by Texterity, www.texterity.com
Science News (iSSN 0036-8423) is published biweekly, for $54.50 for 1 year or
$98 for 2 years (international rate $80.50 for 1 year or $161 for 2 years) by Society
for Science & the Public, 1719 N Street Nw washington, D. C. 20036.
Preferred periodicals postage paid at washington, D.C., and an additional mailing office.
Subscription Department: PO box 1205, williamsport, PA 17703-1205. For new
subscriptions and customer service, call 1-800-552-4412.
Postmaster: Send address changes to Science News, PO box 1205, williamsport, PA
17703-1205. Two to four weeks’ notice is required. Old and new addresses, including zip
codes, must be provided. Copyright © 2011 by Society for Science & the Public. Title registered as trademark U. S. and Canadian Patent Offices. Printed in U.S.A. on recycled paper.
Communicating science
encourages cooperation
Last month more than 700 science journalists from 90 countries congregated in
Doha, the capital city of Qatar, an Arab
nation on the shores of the Persian Gulf.
The occasion was the World Confer-
ence of Science Journalists, held every
other year. This year’s conference was
jointly organized by the U.S. National
Science journalists of whatever nation share several com-
mon goals, aspirations and principles, including the belief
that society benefits from the communication of scientific
knowledge to the citizenry of all lands. Chief among science
journalists’ common beliefs is an appreciation of the power
of rational thought, along with confidence that differences
of opinion can often be reconciled through the pursuit of
relevant evidence, systematically gathered and intelligently
interpreted.
Unified by the common language of mathematics and
the unwavering lawfulness of natural phenomena, scientific findings transcend the cultural divides that typically
permeate politics, religion, social mores and national customs. Everyone on Earth shares the same physics, the same
biology, the same chemistry and the same planet. Scientific
knowledge provides the common ground needed for the
peoples of the world to live peacefully together. At least it
could in principle.
For there to be any hope of achieving this dream, though,
the knowledge produced by the scientific enterprise must
be communicated to the people of the world at large, not
merely exchanged among science’s practitioners. That’s
where science journalists can play an essential role. In Doha,
we shared our thoughts and experiences and discussed the
challenges facing science journalists in a world that doesn’t
always value the messages they deliver or appreciate the
implications of the science they communicate.
But it is, in fact, possible that shared appreciation of
knowledge and rational methods of seeking it can foster
cooperation among groups otherwise divided by distance,
culture or language. The Arab and U.S. science journalists
have shown that it can be done.
—Tom Siegfried, Editor in Chief
Society for Science & the Public is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit corporation founded in 1921. The vision of Society for Science & the Public is to promote the understanding and appreciation
of science and the vital role it plays in human advancement: to inform, educate, inspire. Visit Society for Science & the Public at www.societyforscience.org. Republication of any portion of
Science News without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For permission to photocopy articles, contact Copyright Clearance Center at 978-750-8400 (phone) or 978-750-4470
(fax). Advertising appearing in this publication does not constitute endorsement of its content by Science News or Society for Science & the Public.
