Special Issue: Communicating Physics to the Public

How does the layman learn about physics? Formal education is not the only way, and it probably is not even the main way. Long after the blackboards have become a chalky memory, people are scanning newspaper headlines, looking through weekly newsmagazines, listening to the radio while commuting, sampling programs on television after work or visiting museums while on vacation. And from each of these they get messages about science: Newspapers feature exciting news such as the detection of supernova 1987A; science “experts” on TV debate nuclear power and global warming; magazines and books tempt us with unsolved mysteries or regale us with the adventures of curious characters.

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