Mark Brake: Difference between revisions
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== Space, Science and Culture == |
== Space, Science and Culture == |
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After |
After failing his PhD at [[Cardiff University]] {{fact}}, in [[1998]] Brake received worldwide publicity for developing an undergraduate university course, [[Life in the universe|Life in the Universe,]] <ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/173281.stm |title=Education | The truth is out there |publisher=BBC News |date=1998-09-17 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref><ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19980920/ai_n14478700/</ref>, which examined the [[science]] and [[culture]] of [[astrobiology]]. The following year he launched an undergraduate degree in [[Science]] and [[Science Fiction]], again widely reported by the world's [[News media|media]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/393253.stm |title=Education | First degree in science fiction |publisher=BBC News |date=1999-07-13 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Leander Kahney |url=http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/1999/07/20703 |title=BS in Science Fiction, Literally |publisher=Wired.com |date=2009-01-04 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/star-wars-degree-is-more-fact-than-fiction-1106625.html |title=`Star Wars' degree is more fact than fiction - News |publisher=The Independent |date=1999-07-16 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref>, and which attempted to establish a [[Third Culture]] for [[science]] [[teaching]] in [[academia]]. Continuing this work in [[2005]] whilst a member of the [[NASA Astrobiology Institute]] [[science communication]] group, Brake launched the world's first undergraduate degree in [[Astrobiology]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/news_stories/news_detail.cfm?ID=359 |title=NAI: News Stories |publisher=Nai.arc.nasa.gov |date=2005-09-29 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4292088.stm |title=Wales | College degree in hunting for ET |publisher=BBC News |date=2005-09-28 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2005/sep/28/highereducation.choosingadegree |title=Glamorgan launches ET degree | Education | guardian.co.uk |publisher=Guardian |date= |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Close |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2005/sep/29/highereducation.news |title=Exploring the unknown | Education | guardian.co.uk |publisher=Guardian |date= |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-363809/Its-degree-know-it.html |title=It's a degree, but not as you know it | Mail Online |publisher=Dailymail.co.uk |date=2005-09-29 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref>. The program recognized not only that astrobiology's key issues are grounded firmly within scientific disciplines, and its goals represented by a major driving force behind current [[space programs]], but that the subject also had a long history in [[philosophy]] and [[literature]], associated with the plurality of inhabited worlds tradition. |
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== Public Engagement with Science == |
== Public Engagement with Science == |
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Revision as of 23:59, 2 September 2009
| Mark Brake | |
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| Born | 31 October 1958 Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales |
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| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Physics, Science Communication |
| Known for | Popularising the relationship between space, science and culture |
Mark Brake (born 31 October 1958, Mountain Ash, Wales, UK) is an author, broadcaster and professor in the communication of science. Along with Frank Burnet[1], Brake was one of the UK's first chairs in science communication, and has been professor in the subject at the University of Glamorgan since 2002. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Director of the Science Communication Research Unit at the University of Glamorgan. He was a founding member [2] of the NASA Astrobiology Institute science communication group between 2003 and 2006, and is one of the academics in the European Science Communication Network.
He is best known for his work in popularising the relationship between space, science and culture.
Space, Science and Culture
After failing his PhD at Cardiff University [citation needed], in 1998 Brake received worldwide publicity for developing an undergraduate university course, Life in the Universe, [3][4], which examined the science and culture of astrobiology. The following year he launched an undergraduate degree in Science and Science Fiction, again widely reported by the world's media.[5][6][7], and which attempted to establish a Third Culture for science teaching in academia. Continuing this work in 2005 whilst a member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute science communication group, Brake launched the world's first undergraduate degree in Astrobiology[8][9][10][11][12]. The program recognized not only that astrobiology's key issues are grounded firmly within scientific disciplines, and its goals represented by a major driving force behind current space programs, but that the subject also had a long history in philosophy and literature, associated with the plurality of inhabited worlds tradition.
Public Engagement with Science
Between 2003 and 2008, Brake was responsible for leading high-profile public engagement initiatives in science, which attracted around £5 million of funding.[13] The RoCCoTO project was a community-based science course for the public, based around a robotic telescope facility, and was one of the largest astrobiology outreach programs in the world. By featuring ideas about science and their cultural context, the project engaged large numbers of the public in Third Culture studies. The RoCCoTO project received a Public Engagement Award from the Astrobiology Society of Britain in 2008[14]. Alien Worlds, an award-winning multimedia website associated with the RoCCoTO project was launched in July 2009. The website is an animated guide to phenomena such as eclipses of the Sun and Moon, and demonstrates Earth’s place in a cosmic perspective through advanced, animated visuals. Another project, with indirect funding from the DTi, delivered science communication activities to schools in the principality, in an attempt to forestall the poor uptake in science subjects as a career.
Since 2006, Brake has been director and fund-holder for Science Shops Wales. This major public initiative is based on the European Science Shop model of engagement with the public, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government through the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales. A science shop provides independent participatory research support in response to concerns experienced by civil society. By encouraging community organisations to identify and meet their own research needs, Science Shops Wales aims to be genuinely responsive to, and helpful with, the problems experienced by the citizens of Wales. Science Shop projects also aim to enable university students and staff to strengthen their links with the community while developing research with real local relevance.
Since 2008, Brake has been professorial champion for science in the Beacon for Wales. The Beacon is one of six centres for public engagement throughout the UK at the heart of a major new initiative to make universities more welcoming and accessible, and to deepen the social impact and relevance of their work. Along with the University of Glamorgan, the Beacon for Wales includes Cardiff University, National Museum Wales, BBC Wales, and Techniquest. Throughout 2009, Brake has also been developing public engagement links with National Science Museum (Thailand)
Publishing and Media
Over the last decade or so, Brake has been engaging the public with science, both nationally and internationally, through television, radio, print and electronic media. He has acted as consultant to Microsoft when they launched their Science Fiction Museum in Seattle in 2004; and to Tiger Aspect Productions and the Discovery Channel for their series on science fiction. He was also consultant to Blast! Films for The Martians and Us, a season on the history of British science fiction for BBC Four, and to UKTV for a season of promotion on Doctor Who. Brake is currently working as science consultant for the BBC's CBBC channel on Space Hoppers[15], a seven part series on the Solar System, to be broadcast early in 2010.
And as one of the associate editors in the UK of the NASA Astrobiology Magazine's European Edition, Brake helped NASA commission a rap by Jon Chase on the topic of astrobiology, which attracted considerable global media attention in 2008 and 2009.
After acting as consultant to the Science Museum (London) on their The Science of Aliens exhibition, Brake began publishing popular science books. Different Engines: How Science Drives Fiction and Fiction Drives Science was published by MacMillan Science in 2007, claiming to be the first popular science book to explore the relationship between science and science fiction. FutureWorld, which looks at how science fiction has merged with reality, was published by Boxtree MacMillan and the Science Museum (London) in 2008. Further titles, including one on science communication and one on Galileo and Charles Darwin, are to be published in 2009. Brake is also working with Cambridge University Press on Alien Life Imagined: Communicating the Science and Culture of Astrobiology, to be published in 2012.
Publications
- Different Engines: How Science Drives Fiction and Fiction Drives Science (2007) ISBN 0-230-01980-3
- Futureworld: Where Science Fiction Becomes Science (2008) ISBN 0-752-22672-X
- Revolution in Science: How Galileo and Darwin Changed Our World (2009) ISBN 0-230-20268-3
- Introducing Science Communication: A Practical Guide (2009) ISBN 0-230-57385-1
Notes
- ^ http://info.uwe.ac.uk/news/UWEnews/article.asp?item=218
- ^ http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:yEE8dPtfeE8J:nai.arc.nasa.gov/library/downloads/institute/Science_Comm._FG_Proposal.doc+NAI+science+communication+focus+group&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk
- ^ "Education | The truth is out there". BBC News. 1998-09-17. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19980920/ai_n14478700/
- ^ "Education | First degree in science fiction". BBC News. 1999-07-13. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ Leander Kahney (2009-01-04). "BS in Science Fiction, Literally". Wired.com. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ "`Star Wars' degree is more fact than fiction - News". The Independent. 1999-07-16. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ "NAI: News Stories". Nai.arc.nasa.gov. 2005-09-29. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ "Wales | College degree in hunting for ET". BBC News. 2005-09-28. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ "Glamorgan launches ET degree | Education | guardian.co.uk". Guardian. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ Close. "Exploring the unknown | Education | guardian.co.uk". Guardian. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ "It's a degree, but not as you know it | Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. 2005-09-29. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ http://people.glam.ac.uk/view/190/#interests
- ^ http://news.glam.ac.uk/news/en/2008/jul/04/glamorgan-astronomers-receive-prize-public-engagem/
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/06_june/11/science.shtml