Public Communication of Science

As a brand of study in communication, public communication of science investigates, analyses, and discusses science-related knowledge explicitly. Following an academic principle, public communication of science’s scope traces from three words’ basic understandings.  The term communication means communion and community, both originate from the Latin word communis, meaning to make familiar, have something in common, or share. The things in common could imply information, knowledge, or meaning. Science in this understanding is a branch of knowledge on a particular subject. Such knowledge collection is advantageous for developing new technologies, treating various diseases, and resolving millions of problems humans encounter. 

Meanwhile, the word public could refer to ‘home’ for heterogeneous groups of people. This etymological meaning could suggest that public communication of science signifies a field or discipline closely related to communication with multiple means to disseminate information in the public sphere. A kind of relationship aims to share scientific knowledge, news, and findings or any scientific features that the public can receive more understandably. 

The concept mentioned above seems right when we trace the primary emergence of science’s public communication as it escalates in western societies. Science’s popularity occurred among the academic community, as was written and spoken uniquely in a more scientific language. Communicated, rather complicatedly, the ordinary people failed to grasp science’s meaning. As a result, scientific theories and findings became implausible to the general environment. Besides scientific research endeavors, public communication of science’s primary mission is to ground scientific inventions and discoveries to valuable people’s lives. 

The increasing popularity of digital technology has influenced the public’s life associated with science’s digital communication. The advancement of technology has brought about a tremendous impact and change in the public’s ecosystem. One of the noticeable effects of this field is perhaps, the internet becoming a ‘new home’ of public communication for scientists. Against the old fashion, scientific publications can now be accessible to the public from around the world. A remained question is whether a communicator is still needed or necessary in this digital society or just a scientist within this unique public communication popularity. This feature certainty poses a considerable challenge to the communicators as to how they should find new ways or approaches to attract public attention when most of them, if not all, have direct access themselves to the scientific information on the web. Within this digital epoch, what more roles can the communicators offer to assist the public’s interest in assessing scientific knowledge and news?

Public communication of science is a dynamic, interdisciplinary research field that draws from multiple disciplines and covers a broad spectrum of scientific approaches. It uses tools and techniques from the social sciences, as well as from the humanities.  As a grown field of scientific inquiry, public communication of science will continue to involve in research. Consistent with its primary task to increase our understanding of how best to communicate complex information, especially to people outside the scientific community, would lead public communication of science to become a leading academic discipline in the general environment’s intellectual adventure. As public communication of science has evolved as a global enterprise, it is worth noting that it should have always opened to incorporate local characterizations in its academic adventure. It covers contextualizing theories and principles, according to local people’s characters and cultures.