51 min

Narrating Science: A Conversation with Tasneem Husain about Fiction, Storytelling, and Understanding Science ICE@Dartmouth Podcast

    • Natural Sciences

How do you talk to people about science? This should be easy, after all science seems to be about facts, evidence, and uncovering truths about the natural world. But of course it is not easy and we can find ourselves in the midst of controversies, especially when scientific findings suggest we should modify our behavior or adjust our habits. Partly we face this difficulty because science can be very difficult to understand and describing how science works (not just what scientists say we should do) is hard to do concisely. 

Few forms of expression are as well equipped for handling complex topics as literature. If there is a sure way to talk about science effectively, it must certainly involve storytelling. For this episode, I'll be talking with Dr Tasneem Zehra Husain about her work as a writer and as a scientist and about how fiction can transform science into something we can apprehend . 

How do you talk to people about science? This should be easy, after all science seems to be about facts, evidence, and uncovering truths about the natural world. But of course it is not easy and we can find ourselves in the midst of controversies, especially when scientific findings suggest we should modify our behavior or adjust our habits. Partly we face this difficulty because science can be very difficult to understand and describing how science works (not just what scientists say we should do) is hard to do concisely. 

Few forms of expression are as well equipped for handling complex topics as literature. If there is a sure way to talk about science effectively, it must certainly involve storytelling. For this episode, I'll be talking with Dr Tasneem Zehra Husain about her work as a writer and as a scientist and about how fiction can transform science into something we can apprehend . 

51 min