An initial intermedia study of science on television and in museums

在我们的科学技术社会中，许多来自科学界的人主张公众参与科学的重要性。这些论点都很有说服力，而且可以通过各种形式追溯到18世纪。人文视角，在这种情况下是历史研究，可以通过提供对过去公共科学文化如何运作的理解来丰富这场辩论；这里是科学可能被呈现和消费的不同模式的证据基础。这是科学史学科中一个不断发展的研究领域。到目前为止，出版的大部分作品都集中在书本、报纸和杂志上；战后时期和更长的历史时期都是如此。相比之下，这里的范围划分项目着眼于电视和博物馆展示的视觉媒体。可以说，这是对现有文本强调的一种非常必要的纠正，特别是在1945年以来，视觉媒体在科学传播中获得了巨大的意义，就像在每个文化部门一样。该提案认为，有必要摆脱对单一媒体的研究；为了了解科学传播如何在社会中运作，我们必须研究传播本身的性质，在制定这一项目时，我们建议通过比较以时间为基础的媒体电视的科学传播和博物馆陈列的空间媒体来实现这一点。过去的电视制片人和博物馆馆长存在于相同的一般文化中；他们受到来自利益集团的类似--有时实际上是相同的--压力；他们经常制作相同主题的公开陈述。通过同时研究这两种媒体，应该可以“减去”每种媒体的细节，并对科学传播本身的活动有更多的了解。我们希望解决每种媒介的内在原因；历史偶然性--例如招聘专业人员的做法--如何影响调解；媒体之间可能有什么共同之处(例如来自精英和组织的压力)；以及共同的态度，例如对专业知识或权威的尊重。所选择的时期--1945-1970年--对于这项研究来说是特别有趣和合适的。我曾在其他地方认为，这个时代，特别是1957至1964年，应该被认为是电视上的科学建立起来的时间点。英国广播公司的《地平线》从1964年开始播出，到1969年底已经播出了135期。科学博物馆在这一时期也不是死水：1946年至1970年间举办了85次特别展览，与此同时，博物馆的工作人员还在一座主要的新建筑中安装了一套新的画廊。此外，这是一个与实物展示相辅相成的活动--讲座、电影放映、学校供应--显著增加的时代。这种比较方法源于吉斯莱恩·劳伦斯1990年发表的一篇极具启发性的论文，该论文比较了20世纪50年代的医疗电视和展览。为了探索这种方法在应用于更广泛的节目和展示时的好处，需要进行这项范围研究，我们希望这将提供“概念证明”。出于可实现性的原因，这个项目的重点是英国电视台和南肯辛顿科学博物馆；一个更全面的画面是一个很好的抱负，但需要更广泛的研究。

In our scientific and technological society, many from within science argue for the importance of public engagement in science. The arguments are well established, and can be traced in various forms to the 18th century. Humanities perspectives, in this case historical research, can enrich this debate by providing understanding of how the public culture of science has operated in the past; here is the evidence base for the different modes in which science may be presented and consumed. This is a growing field of study within the discipline of the history of science. Much of the work published so far has concentrated on the written word, on books, newspapers and magazines; this is as true of the postwar period as it is of the longer history. The scoping project here, by contrast, looks at the visual media of television and museum display. Arguably this is a very necessary corrective to the existing textual emphasis, especially for the period since 1945 when visual media have gained enormous significance in science communication, as in every department of culture. The proposal argues that it is necessary to move away from studies focussing on single media; to understand how science communication operated within society, we must look at the nature of communication itself and, within the formulation of this project, we propose to achieve that by drawing comparisons between science communication in the time-based medium of television and the spatial medium of museum display. Past TV producers and museum curators existed within the same general culture; they were subject to similar - sometimes effectively identical - pressures from interest groups; and they often produced public representations of the same subjects. By studying both media together it should be possible to 'subtract out' the specifics of each medium and understand significantly more about the activity of science communication itself. We hope to untangle what is intrinsic to each medium; how historical contingency - eg recruiting practices for professional staff - affects mediation; what may be common between media (eg pressure from elites and organisations); and attitudes held in common, for example deference to expertise or authority. The period chosen - 1945-1970 - is particularly interesting and appropriate for this study. I have argued elsewhere that this era, and specifically 1957 to 1964, should be considered the point at which science on television became established. The BBC's Horizon began transmission in 1964 and, by the end of 1969 had broadcasted 135 issues. Neither was The Science Museum a backwater in this period: 85 special exhibitions were held between 1946 and 1970, at the same time as the Museum's staff also installed a suite of new galleries into a major new building. Furthermore, this was the era in which activities supplementary to the object displays - lectures, film shows, schools' provision - increased markedly. The comparative approach arises from a highly suggestive 1990 paper by Ghislaine Lawrence, which compared 1950s medical TV and exhibitions. To explore the benefits of the approach when applied to a wider range of programmes and displays requires this scoping study, which we hope will deliver 'proof of concept'. For reasons of achievability, this project focuses on British television and the Science Museum South Kensington; a much more comprehensive picture is a good ambition, but one that will require much more extended study.