How to Popularize Physics

Outreach is a tremendous amount of fun, and it can change a person’s approach to physics and education. I have organized two major outreach efforts, participated in many events run by others, and co-organized a conference on physics outreach held last summer at the Aspen Center for Physics (see http://www-ed.fnal.gov/aspen ). From 1994 to 2003, I was the faculty coordinator of Boston University’s Pathways Program for female high-school students (http://www.bu.edu/lernet/pathways ). During the program’s poster and demonstration sessions, I would play the role of itinerant magician, prowling around with my favorite physics toys in hand, asking passing students to help me operate them and challenging them to figure out the relevant physics. That was a great way to help them make connections to what they were studying in science classes, to their own areas of interest, and to other session demonstrations they’d enjoy. My Pathways experience also allowed me to witness many exciting “Aha” moments when students really grasped an idea and took a step beyond what I’d just shown them—often by suggesting a novel way to use my physics toys to demonstrate other principles. In one sense, my experiences have been valuable because I got to work closely with and learn from scientists and teachers in a wide variety of fields. But they had profound additional value: They helped me renew my intrinsic love of physics.

Do other physicists participate in outreach? Absolutely. A few years ago, particle theorist Chris Quigg, then chair of the American Physical Society’s (APS’s) division of particles and fields, asked me to organize a three-week outreach program to be held in Snowmass Village, Colorado, in connection with the 2001 Snowmass Summer Study on the Future of Particle Physics (see http://www.snowmass2001.org/outreach/education2.html ). I was amazed and delighted by the number of colleagues who volunteered to travel across the country, often in vehicles packed with equipment and family members, to work long hours training teachers, holding stargazing sessions, giving lectures, running day-camp classes, and participating in a huge weekend science fair on the Snowmass Village mall.

Many of the volunteers were high-energy physicists who sandwiched outreach activities between scientific presentations at the main conference: a graduate student who lifted children off the floor by inflating a bed of small resealable plastic bags; a research associate from a national lab who amazed crowds with his liquid-nitrogen-powered “cryo cannon”; faculty and students who worked side by side running tabletop demonstrations. Others were at Snowmass only for the outreach: low-temperature physicists from the University of Houston who forded Texas floodwaters to join us and demonstrate a superconducting apparatus capable of levitating an entire person; a high-school student who helped 10-year-olds build their own hot-air balloons; undergraduates from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Michigan State University who captivated audiences with science theater performances. The program’s 100 volunteers came from the Department of Energy (DOE), APS, NSF, K–12 schools in five states, six major laboratories, two museums, and 33 universities in North America and Europe. Their activities were attended by more than 1500 members of the general public.

What and why

Popularizing physics means disseminating research results to a nonexpert audience. That dissemination is a natural extension of physicists’ efforts in writing journal articles and presenting conference talks. I am the primary expert on my own research, but to ensure that my work has impact beyond my research group, I must communicate my findings to others. And if physics research is to have tangible consequences in the broader society, we physicists are the ones who must ensure that those outside the field are aware of what we have accomplished.

Popularizing physics also has broader and more subtle aims. One is to convey to nonphysicists the inherent excitement and underlying goals of the discipline. The next time you are introduced to someone and mention that you are a physicist, wouldn’t it be nice not to hear in reply “I hated physics in school” or “Ooh, you must be so smart,” but instead to be asked “Are you one of the people who makes light stand still?” or “Is there really a black hole at the center of our galaxy?” A related aim of outreach is to help the public appreciate the beauty and creativity of the scientific endeavor, to understand that physicists do not merely enumerate dry facts. Rather, we spin webs of connection between disparate aspects of the physical universe. For example, Michigan State’s Walter Benenson recently coproduced a TV program called Nucleus Factory (http://wkar.org/nucleusfactory ) that demonstrated how nuclear physics and astrophysics are connected in the study of supernovae. The show drew in the audience by noting that all humans are made of the elements produced in those explosive events.

Given the demands of our profession, we might be tempted to ask whether we really need to take on the large additional task of outreach. But who better to do so? If we are to continue doing the research we deem intellectually important, socially relevant, or personally fulfilling, we are responsible for informing our sponsors about the connection between our concerns and theirs. If we want our lawmakers to be aware of the science that affects how laws and regulations are applied, then we who have the requisite scientific knowledge must take the initiative and disseminate it. If the recent reversal of declining US enrollment in physics courses is to be maintained so that the scientific goals we prize can continue to be achieved, we who already appreciate the beauty and excitement of physics must persuade new students to enter the field.

I believe that all physicists should participate in outreach because of the gains that they and the field will enjoy. But what does that mean in practice? Should all physicists reading this article start giving impromptu lectures at neighborhood block parties? Probably not. But they should be willing to consider what kind of outreach projects they would enjoy, how they could get started, and how they could ensure that their efforts will have a lasting impact.

Because I have focused on public rather than political outreach, this article concentrates on the public arena. Some general strategies for good communication apply to the political realm as well. And public outreach to today’s schoolchildren can shape the views of tomorrow’s leaders. Political outreach, however, includes specific activities that I will not discuss, such as writing reports for government agencies or contacting elected representatives. To join efforts to inform the US government about issues important to the physics community, visit, for example, the website of the APS office of public affairs (http://www.aps.org/public_affairs ), the Optical Society of America’s public policy webpage (http://www.osa.org/publicpolicy ), or the science and policy webpage of the American Geophysical Union (http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/policy ).

NSF weighs in

Not only does NSF support basic research, it also works to promote public awareness of science by placing education and outreach squarely within the range of responsibilities of a practicing scientist. Its grant-proposal instructions, for example, explicitly ask scientists to consider and describe the implications of their research for other scientific fields and for society as a whole. The motto of my home institution, Michigan State, mirrors those NSF goals. The science faculty at MSU are expected not only to “advance knowledge” though research but also to enhance the potential of science for “transforming lives.”

The NSF webpage http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/nsf04_23/3.htm lists wide-ranging categories that fall under the rubric of its broader-impact review criterion; those include linking discovery with education, promoting diversity, enhancing infrastructure, and broadly disseminating results. NSF also describes specific sample activities corresponding to each category. Box 1 on page 44 lists some of them.

The NSF examples make it clear that popularization encompasses a great variety of activities. Some of those activities, such as giving public lectures or advising a Society of Physics Students chapter, are natural parts of physicists’ professional work. Others, like visiting K–12 classes, judging science fairs, or participating in a science-themed book club, are among the personal activities of physicists. Hosting an intern through a program such as the Research Experiences for Undergraduates or the Research Experiences for Teachers can enhance a physicist’s research productivity, and involving a postdoc in undergraduate teaching can advance that person’s career potential. Outreach activities such as creating a museum exhibit, giving a TV or radio interview, or writing a children’s book can enable one to realize a secret dream. Given so many possibilities, the question is how to choose which path to pursue.

Preparation

Effective outreach, of course, requires careful preparation. Key steps include matching yourself to an appropriate audience, working with the audience to ensure that your efforts will be useful, availing yourself of existing resources, striving to avoid known pitfalls, and implementing follow-up measures to sustain your initial efforts.

You and I take such steps informally every time we answer an impromptu question about science from a child or a layperson. For example, when my kindergartner asked, “Why do children look like their parents?” my finely honed investigative instincts told me that a lecture on dominant and recessive genes would be overkill. But his question was so general that I needed to know what had prompted it. I discovered that he wasn’t asking for details on how babies are made (Whew!), but was wondering why his skin was darker than mine and lighter than his father’s. So we embarked on an intense but attention-span-limited discussion about how both parents supply “directions,” an idea familiar from games and toys, that determine what a baby looks like.

In deliberately starting a formal outreach effort, you should do similar things in a more systematic way. Begin by considering your own interests and talents. Which physics topics do you find most interesting or easiest to explain to others? What audience are you most comfortable addressing—museumgoers, retirees, congressional staffers? What communications medium suits you best—writing, cartooning, live demonstrations, open-ended question and answer sessions? Jeff Wilkes (University of Washington) and Greg Snow (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) asked themselves those questions in preparing for the 2001 Snowmass outreach program and decided that, for the mixed audience of journalists and tourists they were hoping to educate about cosmic rays, performance was the best medium. Inspired by a photograph of Victor Hess in a hot-air balloon (figure 1(a)), they staged a reenactment (figure 1(b)) of Hess’s historic flight in which cosmic rays were discovered to have extraterrestrial origin. Inveterate Cornhusker fan Timothy Gay (University of Nebraska–Lincoln) wanted fellow fans to appreciate the role of Newton’s laws in their team’s efforts. His Football Physics short films (see http://physics.unl.edu/outreach/football.html ) now play regularly on the big screen at Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium during games.

Keep in mind that physicists who participate in education and outreach generally cite both the rewards and frustrations of their work. Think about what you would find particularly gratifying. It might be convincing someone that superconductivity is not only cool but understandable, or perhaps seeing a familiar experiment through a novice’s eyes. Consider how you would cope if your demonstration were to malfunction or if an audience member’s question probed the limitations of your favorite analogy.

Match your thoughts to the characteristics of your intended audience. What topics are most interesting to them? What kinds of explanations do they find most compelling? What are their goals and how does learning about science mesh with their aims? How much science are they already familiar with and how comfortable are they with technical terms and mathematics? In framing your initial ideas about what you would like to attempt, relate your favorite topics to the audience’s interests, tailor your communication style to their level of scientific sophistication, and choose your actions to help meet their goals.

Contact your potential audience and pitch your ideas to them. The conversation might enlighten you about other education or outreach activities and materials that are already available to them. Your audience might have specific ideas about how a physicist could assist them. In some cases, they may wish for an existing program to be extended to reach a larger audience or to incorporate a new topic. In others, their pressing issue might be how to weave the latest research discoveries into a curriculum restricted by state standards, or how to compress information into a museum exhibit that the public can comprehend in five minutes. At times, existing materials will need to be translated into another language or recast for a different age group.

As you move from initial ideas to concrete plans, take advantage of the many resources available to you. Demonstration equipment can be borrowed from your university; old lab equipment can be salvaged from your research collaboration. Also useful are online lectures, worksheets, and sample curricula, or descriptions of demonstrations and events arranged by others. Box 2 below gives links to some of those resources. Perhaps the most valuable resources are local individuals, organizations, and informal networks with which you can form partnerships. Local museums, radio stations, scout troops, book groups, or service clubs might be looking for volunteers with science expertise. Other physicists in your community may already be running a program you could join, or may want to help you start one.

Presentation

Before giving that first public lecture, conducting that first lab tour, or submitting that first popular article, examine your work for common pitfalls. First, make sure that you are not making unconscious use of background knowledge and assumptions to which your audience is not privy. Have you defined all technical terms, pruned away all jargon, and established the context for your topic? Second, check the format of your presentation. Humor builds a sense of connection between physicist and nonphysicist (figure 2), visual images and metaphors like the field of grass shown in figure 3 can bridge mathematical or conceptual gaps, and discussion or hands-on experimentation involves the audience. To convey the sheer scale of the equipment needed to observe neutrinos, I like to show figure 4, a photo of the Super-Kamiokande detector; it’s a quirky image that grabs people’s attention and establishes the size of the detector in a tangible way. Third, make sure that the scientific tale you are sharing includes a clear story line and some drama or suspense. If you have ever witnessed the classic bowling-ball-pendulum demonstration of energy conservation, you probably remember the strong message about reproducible results that was sent by the lecturer’s conviction, in the face of apparent personal peril, that Newton’s laws would hold once again.

Involved audiences

Physicists use a variety of successful techniques for maximizing the success of their education and outreach efforts. One of those is getting audiences at public lectures to be active, engaged listeners. Since a good deal of physics teaching is done via lecture, such active-engagement techniques can have a large impact.

Richard Berg (University of Maryland, College Park), Eric Mazur (Harvard University), and Masako Bando (Aichi University, Nagoya, Japan) all have distinctive approaches to involving their audiences. Berg runs the Physics is Phun program of lecture demonstrations and traveling physics shows (http://www.physics.umd.edu/PhysPhun ). His physics IQ test is a staple of the workshop for new physics faculty that is held annually by the American Association of Physics Teachers in conjunction with APS and the American Astronomical Society (http://www.aapt.org/events/newfaculty.cfm ). The test induces audience members to predict the outcome of demonstrations—and then to understand their own inevitable errors. Because the participants have invested some effort (and, if they are physicists, not a little ego) in their predictions, they pay careful attention and ask many probing questions.

Mazur’s book Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual (Prentice Hall, 1997) describes his trademark method of getting the audience to discuss conceptual physics puzzles and vote on the answers. (The Mazur group’s education website is http://mazur-www.harvard.edu/education .) His research, which compared students who experience interactive class sessions with those in traditional classes, found that the students in the interactive classes acquire similar problem-solving skills and superior conceptual understanding.

Bando often lectures to nonscientists. To enhance their comprehension of complex cooperative phenomena such as phase transitions and nuclear fission chain reactions, she turns the audience into model experimental systems so they can “learn by being.” For example, she induces students in a packed lecture hall to simulate a phase transition in a ferromagnetic spin system as follows: The students start by randomly holding up their textbooks with either the red front cover or blue back cover visible. On Bando’s cue, the students each determine whether the majority of books held by their neighbors appear red or blue. On a second cue, they flip their books to match the majority they perceived. Ties are resolved by a bias toward one color, just as a slight magnetic field would bias a spin system. The cues and flips repeat. After a dozen cycles, the transition from disorder to order is complete, and the students’ understanding is improved. I gave Bando’s phase-transition demonstration a try during my plenary lecture at the 2004 APS division of particles and fields meeting in Riverside, California. It worked beautifully.

More success stories

Physicists involved in outreach programs take several distinctive and interesting approaches. Those include involving K–12 teachers in existing research collaborations, establishing K–12 research consortia, training science educators, running science immersion camps for adults and teens, and creating internet resources. All of those programs are capable of being extended or replicated; contact the organizers of the examples described in this section.

QuarkNet collaborations involve high-school students and teachers in high-energy physics experiments conducted at seven DOE labs in the US and at CERN in Europe (see http://quarknet.fnal.gov ). At each of 50 QuarkNet centers, teachers undertake a summer of research with a local university or lab group. They then integrate what they have learned into their classroom practice and help train and mentor other teachers in their states. QuarkNet teachers have created and tested classroom activities that enable students to apply basic physics principles to real particle-physics data. Ultimately, students in QuarkNet-affiliated schools will have electronic access to real-time data from the Large Hadron Collider experiments at CERN.

Teachers participating in the QuarkNet program especially value the research experience and cite its impact on inquiry-based exercises in their own courses. They also report that their affiliation with an international physics research program increases the respect they and the teaching profession receive from students, parents, and colleagues.

Physicists studying high-energy cosmic rays have formed a research consortium based in high schools: the North American Large area Time coincidence Arrays (NALTA) Collaboration (http://csr.phys.ualberta.ca/nalta ). High-school teachers and students participate in cutting-edge research and work to integrate the science they are studying into the physics curriculum. Each school performs its own experiments on local cosmic-ray fluxes, and the network of schools will eventually be integrated to allow detection of city-sized or larger showers of cosmic rays. Annual workshops introduce new groups of students and teachers to the necessary physics and help them build cosmic-ray telescopes, which they install on their schools’ rooftops. Physicists from universities and government labs, assisted by graduate or senior undergraduate students, serve as mentors for local high-school teams. Biweekly follow-up phone conversations and annual conferences ensure that questions are answered and equipment is kept running smoothly. Teachers in the program express tremendous excitement about the opportunity to teach students how research is carried out and about building and maintaining their own detectors, which are more sophisticated than typical high-school lab equipment.

The Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago has started a series of short courses aimed at conveying scientific content to those skilled at reaching the public (http://kicp.uchicago.edu/workshops ). Current classes equip planetarium staff to incorporate modern cosmology and astrophysics into their own public programs. The Kavli program brings participants to Chicago’s Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum for lectures, hands-on labs, and computer sessions; participants leave with practical tools—such as data sets, visual images, and animations—that they can use in their work. Most participants at the 2003 course stated in their overwhelmingly enthusiastic evaluations that they planned to use their new knowledge immediately to create more shows for the public and design activities for high-school students.

The astronomy camps affiliated with the University of Arizona’s alumni association (http://astronomycamp.org ) offer immersion in astronomy at levels tailored to educators, adults, and teenagers. Each multiday program includes sessions with professional astronomers and science artists. Campers use telescopes up to 61” in diameter and have access to instruments ranging from simple eyepieces to research-grade optical and IR imagers. Based on an active-learning philosophy, the camps enable even novice participants to experience the essentials of astronomical research by making and learning to interpret their own observations.

Many organizations have created excellent interactive websites aimed at sharing physics with the public. Particularly useful features of such sites are the self-paced nature of the learning, the chance for immediate feedback by answering questions, and links to additional information.

Some sites also act as a preview or follow-up to an affiliated physical exhibit. For example, the Thinking About Physics website at Amherst College (http://www.amherst.edu/~physicsqanda ) provides hints, commentary, and references related to physics puzzles posted on buses linking the local five-college community and on buses in the University of Georgia’s campus transit system. The Materials Research Society’s Strange Matter website (http://www.mrs.org/strangematter ) includes guides to making the most of visits to an associated traveling museum exhibit. The site also illustrates the potential of electronic media for successfully addressing multiple audiences. One segment of the site allows the user to access a mix of video clips, games, and directions for tabletop experiments. Another section, aimed at K–12 teachers, includes suggested classroom exercises and relates Strange Matter exhibits to the National Science Education Standards and the science and technology curriculum for grades 1–8 developed by the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training in Canada.

What you can do

Join an outreach effort! Chances are you will enjoy it and your audience will too. Now is a great time to get involved. The World Year of Physics 2005, with its coordinated events and publicity efforts (see http://www.physics2005.org ), presents a fantastic opportunity for us physicists to bring our field the public recognition it deserves. Physics will be the long-term beneficiary. As you make your plans, keep the following points in mind.

You can make your contribution in a number of ways, from creating web animations to supervising science-fair projects to speaking at local service clubs. The impact of your work will be maximized if you match your ideas to the audience’s needs, form partnerships so as to get the most out of your individual contributions, and plan appropriate follow-up activities. Take advantage of existing resources and adapt strategies that have proved successful.

Support the efforts of others. Encourage your students and postdocs to become involved in education and outreach; a modest investment of their time will provide them with skills and experiences they will find valuable when applying for faculty positions or research support. Offer to play a supporting role in outreach programs run by junior colleagues; the moral support you provide them is as valuable as your tangible contributions to their activities. Ensure that your unit rewards education and outreach when promotions, annual evaluations, and merit raises are discussed. Public awareness of physics is important for the future of the field. Those who invest effort to produce that awareness are worthy of their colleagues’ respect.