Public Understanding of Science and Technology
This pioneering program, now in its second decade, created a new approach to translating science for the public through the synergistic use of media. The program's primary aim is to build bridges between the "two cultures"--the sciences and the humanities--to develop a common language so that they can better understand one another. The program also seeks to enhance people's lives by providing a better understanding of the increasingly scientific and technological environment in which we live. It aims to convey some of the challenges and rewards of the scientific and technological enterprise and of the lives of the men and women who undertake it.
To meet these goals, the Foundation has established nationwide programs in theater, film, television, and radio that commission, develop, produce, and distribute new work to bridge the two cultures. Grantees include the Manhattan Theatre Club, Sundance Film Institute, PBS, National Public Radio, the World Science Festival, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. In 2004 the Foundation received the National Science Board's Public Service Award, which cited the Public Understanding Program, and Program Director Doron Weber has accepted on behalf of the Foundation the PBS Leadership Award, the Nielsen Impact Award for Film, the Council of Foundation citation for "visionary funding decisions of foundations in using media for their program goals" for a new web series, and the Gold Communicator Award for a documentary about the Foundation's history. This renowned program has been chronicled in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Fortune, and Filmmaker Magazine.
The Program supports the use of:
- Books: publications such as Birdseye, The Inventor and the Tycoon, and Ignorance: How it Drives Science
- Film: films such as A Birder's Guide to Everything, Computer Chess, and Robot & Frank
- Radio: programs such as BURN: An Energy Journal, Radiolab, and Science Friday
- Television: shows such as Silicon Valley on The American Experience, and James Cameron's Deep Sea Challenge upcoming on National Geographic
- Theater: plays such as Isaac's Eye, The Explorers Club, and Proof
- New Media: productions such as the World Science Festival, projects such as the New York Hall of Science's interactive ebook on science and the Innocence Project, and the virtual chemistry set being developed by the Chemical Heritage Foundation
to reach a wide non-specialist audience.
Program Director:
Doron Weber Bio