Science is a tough one because a lot of people feel very intimidated by science. There is this stereotype of scientists locked away in their laboratories, or of being so shockingly brilliant that they can’t even talk to real people — the rest of us. There are scientists like that, but I’ve also found that scientists are also
Once you get past this facade that they have to maintain because they’re in academics or whatever, they are real people and the reason they become scientists is because they’re just passionate about learning new things and discovering new things about our planet.
One of the things that made me go into science writing initially was I realized there are enough scientists to save the planet, but if nobody understands what those scientists know, it’s not going to make a difference. Because politicians are not elected by scientists, they are elected by the general public.
If the general public doesn’t understand enough science to recognize how quickly the earth is deteriorating or how we need to manage our natural resources, they’re not going to hold politicians accountable for making responsible decisions that protect resources not only for our generation, but for future generations. My goal from the very get-go was to help transmit this knowledge that scientists had to the general public and in such a way that wasn’t intimidating. Now have I achieved that? I’m not sure. I hope so because one thing — the real key point for scientists, or for young people, is to have someone introduce them to it.
Yet parents and teachers often feel like, “Well, how can I share science with young people? I don’t know how to do this because I don’t know any science.” One of the beauties of science books, especially for young people, is you don’t have to have any prior knowledge of science to share and discover. You can sit down with a five-year-old and read them a book like Teeth, or whatever the topic happens to be and you can learn in that process along with them. One of the goals I’ve always had is to make accessible science books for young people.
The other thing in education that I believe is changing slowly — and I hope changes much more rapidly — is science has always been considered this subject over here. You know, “Oh, it’s a specialty. If we have time to get to it, we’ll go look at it.” What kids really need to know is reading and writing and math, which is true to some extent.
They do need to know those things, but science is not this thing over here. Science is part of everything we are and everything we do. It affects our economy. It affects our relationships. It affects what we want to eat. It affects who we’re attracted to in life. Every aspect of our lives is part of science. Understanding science to me is understanding ourselves and my wish for teachers is to not just pick a cutesy little fiction picture book to teach reading and writing, pick up a science book and use that to teach literacy. Right away they’re going to grab all these reluctant readers who never wanted to read before.
It’ll start imparting this sense among children that science is not something unattainable or unapproachable; it’s part of everyday life. If I’ve achieved anything in my career, it’s the hope that I’ve written books that are being picked up by people who’ve never picked up a science book before, and who want to just share that sense of discovery with young people.