Join course to write creatively, break news

Updated on: Monday, July 18, 2011

Taking inspiration from Isaac Asimov, Arthur Clarke, Richard Feynman or even a Stephen Hawking to turn science into prose, the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) is getting off the beaten track. It will tell stories of science to inform and entertain.

Three experts in science writing and communication have, in collaboration with NCBS in what may be a first in the country, decided to launch a programme for NCBS students to think and write science in creative and innovative ways. Peter Aldhous of the New Scientist, a PhD in animal behaviour, Geoff Hyde, NCBS science communication coordinator, a PhD in cell biology, and Anil Ananthaswamy, a B.Tech from IIT and specialist in journalism from the University of Santa Cruz, California, have put together a course that will offer exposure to NCBS students in the art of popular science. The course is set to begin in August.

"How can you tell a story in science that will engage, entertain and inform at the same time? This is precisely what we would like science students themselves to do -- to be able to turn a work of science into a work of prose. We have to hold the attention of the reader. The art of prose is one way to do that," says Ananthaswamy, one of the course coordinators.

While India has had popular science writers like Jayant Narlikar, V S Ramachandran, Rajagopal Kamath, the tradition needs to be strengthened -- and institutions like NCBS and IISc are just the right places to start.

"Alongside creative writing, students will also be taught to break news in science, present news in newspapers, magazines and on websites. They will also be exposed to writing science under deadlines -- condensing the work of a scientist who may have taken years and a few hundred or thousand words, in a couple of hours. Aldhous will bring in his expertise in this area and in investigative science journalism," says Ananthaswamy.

SOME POPULAR SCIENCE WRITERS

Michael Faraday

Fritjof Capra

Richard Dawkins

J B S Haldane

Carl Sagan

Peter Atkins

POPULAR SCIENCE BOOKS

I, Robot

Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman

The Tao of Physics

A Brief History of Time

The Selfish Gene

Times of India

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