From Lab to Living Room:
Science, Public Policy, and Personal Behavior

Faculty: Nalini Nadkarni, William Ray Arney, John deGraaf

Science does not stop at the door of the laboratory or the border of the field station. Directly and indirectly, the work of scientists finds it way into public and private life. From decisions as large as the federal government's commitment to reduce pollution to questions of whether it's important to eat bran muffins (or should that be bran cereal?) for breakfast, people have to contend with the effects of science in their lives. This program explored the way science makes its way from the lab into our living rooms, how it shapes public policy, how it influences our private lives. Students were to develop a critical appreciation of the scientific process and the means by which science is communicated to others-to other scientists, citizens, and policy makers.

Fall Quarter
Fall quarter was devoted to an intensive study of the process of scientific inquiry. Lectures and student projects took students through the various stages of the scientific process: topic choice, question formulation, hypothesis construction, scientific inquiry, and scientific reporting. Students learned how to find, read, and evaluate scientific papers, how to edit scientific reports, how to do descriptive statistical analyses of data sets, and how to evaluate translations of scientific work into public artifacts. We examined the processes by which scientists are trained In addition, students were exposed to the critical social and historical study of science.

Seminar books included Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (Annie Dillard), Discourse on Method (Descartes), The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Thomas S. Kuhn), Disembodying Women: Perspectives on Pregnancy and the Unborn (Barbara Duden), and Atmosphere, Climate, and Change (Thomas E. Graedel and Paul Crutzen). Introductory writing classes were based on Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (Natalie Goldberg).

Projects for the fall included: (1) measuring trees in the college's forest, organizing the data, and doing descriptive statistics to summarize findings, (2) presenting a set of "paired papers" in which students compared the popular presentation of a scientific issue in the media to the original paper in the scientific literature, (3) working in a group, paying close attention to one particular object, measuring it, describing it, drawing it, constructing and testing hypotheses about it. Major writing projects included a biographical statement, a response to the question, What is science?, and a brief biographical sketch of a scientist. The final project was an extended version of the "paired papers" projects. Students found a media presentation of a scientific issue, tracked down multiple sources used in the media report, and then made a systematic comparison of the original papers to their translations in the press.

Winter Quarter
The focus was on the communication of scientific material through various media. Guest lecturers discussed the use of television and newspapers as well as substantive issues such as the recovery of salmon habitat and tree physiology and the maple sugaring industry in New England.

John deGraaf, noted environmental filmmaker, joined the faculty team this quarter as the Daniel Evans Scholar, and endowed position to enhance core programs. He presented a community film series that included "Affluenza," "Escape from Affluenza," "Running out of Time," "For Earth's Sake: The Life and Times of David Brower," "The Moon's Prayer," "Green Plans," "The Return of the Maya," "A Personal Matter," a rough cut of "Hot Potatoes," "Circle of Plenty," and "Beyond Organic." In addition John conducted a bi-weekly seminar on film craft using as his examples environmental films of other directors. John gave a number of lectures on his work and was an active participant in the all-group meetings and seminars. He also helped a small group of students become familiar with the full range of tasks in making documentaries.

Readings for the quarter included Terry Tempest Williams, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place, Bill McKibben, The Age of Missing Information, E. O. Wilson, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, Wendell Berry, Life Is a Miracle: An Essay Against Modern Superstition, Bill Joy, "Why the future doesn't need us," Heather Newbold, ed., Life Stories: World-Renowned Scientists Reflect on Their Lives and the Future of Life on Earth, Sheldon Rampton, John Stauber, Trust Us, We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles With Your Future, and Jessica Abel and Ira Glass, Radio: An Illustrated Guide, Chicago: WBEZ FM, 1999.

Projects for the quarter included a biography of a scientist or media person (students had to interview their subjects and present a biography in writing or on audio tape), a critique of two films by John deGraaf, a final examination, and a major project (including a presentation to the class at the end of the quarter).