--> Abstract: Celebrating the Year of Science 2009, by M. L. Allison, Judy Scotchmoor, and Richard O'Grady; #90078 (2008)

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Celebrating the Year of Science 2009

M. L. Allison1, Judy Scotchmoor2, and Richard O'Grady3
1Arizona Geological Survey, Tucson, AZ
2Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, CA
3American Institute of Biological Sciences, Washington, DC

Hundreds of thousands of scientists and educators are preparing for a year-long celebration (www.yearofscience2009.org) to engage the public and improve understanding about the nature and processes of science and its value to society.

A public with an understanding and appreciation of the nature of science is a prerequisite for a skilled workforce able to compete in a knowledge-based global economy, able to make informed decisions about climate change, and energy policy, and prepared to engage in public policy discussions involving science and technology. An insufficient understanding of science leads to exclusion from much of the discourse of modern society, an inability to distinguish science from non-science, and a vulnerability to special interests attempting to drive public perceptions of science in their favor.

A Year of Science 2009 is led by the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS: www.copusproject.org), a grassroots effort linking universities, scientific societies, science centers and museums, media, educators, businesses, and industry in a peer network. YoS2009 resources include activities and kits, a searchable database of events, an interactive map of events, blog, chat rooms, document library, press room, and links to content in the Understanding Science website - www.understandingscience.org.

Opportunities to mark 2009 as the anniversary of seminal events in the history of science include: the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin as well as of Abraham Lincoln, founder of the National Academy of Sciences; the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species;” and the 400th anniversary of the publication of Johannes Kepler’s first two Laws of Planetary Motion. We are collaborating with experts on framing scientific communications most effectively for public understanding.

 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90078©2008 AAPG Annual Convention, San Antonio, Texas