Category Archives: Communicating science

Preprints and science news

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Frank Norman

I’ve written before about preprints and science news. That blogpost was occasioned by the open letter last summer from Fiona Fox at the Science Media Centre on the subject, and the follow-up comment piece by Tom Sheldon in Nature. Mine … Continue reading →

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Diversithon – some recipes

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Frank Norman

Recipe 1 It’s a simple recipe. Gather together some people who want to change the world. Put some inspirational speakers in front of them to get people fired up about diversity in science. Provide cakes and biscuits. Teach some basic … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating science, Wikipedia | 2 Comments

Preprints in the news

Posted on July 31, 2018 by Frank Norman

I think Fiona Fox’s recent question about preprints and their impact on science news reporting deserves more consideration. She calls for more discussion of the issue and of possible solutions. Preprints – good I’ve invested quite a bit of time … Continue reading →

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Mind, the map

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Frank Norman

Last week I attended the launch of a new exhibition at the Science Museum, called Mind Maps: stories from psychology. This is an exhibition, sponsored by the British Psychological Society, which: .. explores how mental health conditions have been diagnosed and treated over … Continue reading →

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Mill Hill Essays 2013

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Frank Norman

One of my more pleasurable annual tasks is producing the volume of Mill Hill Essays. I commmission between 5 and 10 essays, mostly from authors at the Institute, then edit them and oversee the production. Print copies of the essays … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating science, Writing | 1 Comment

Envious admiration

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Frank Norman

There is a fine line between jealousy and envy. I had thought of them as pretty much the same thing until reading Stan Carey’s blog post on the subject. I think that admiration is also quite close; it is the nicer, … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating science | 2 Comments

A very large building site

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Frank Norman

Last week I went on a short tour of the Francis Crick Institute construction site. The Crick is a new research institute due to open in 2015, and will be formed out of two existing institutes in London plus three … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating science, Crick | 7 Comments

More on Wikipedia

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Frank Norman

Just a quick follow-up to my recent post about Wikipedia. Wikipedia has been in the news recently, with the BBC highlighting Cancer Research UK’s Wikipedia activity and the Guardian editorialising on the survey that the Wikimedia Foundation is running. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating science | 6 Comments

Wikipedia is quite engaging

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Frank Norman

Wikipedia and its role in science keeps cropping up on my radar recently. Matt Jukes pointed out last week, in a talk to a group of Science Communications people, that a decent article in Wikipedia about a science topic would … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating science, Scientific literature | 9 Comments