Science, not just for geeks!

I like science and I bet you immediately think I’m a geek (you’re right). Science is cool but the people who get their kicks from it usually aren’t, not by conventional standards anyhow. You mention science and you conjure images of Einstein, Hawking, Doc Brown and Professor Frink, or on a generic basis, nerdy guys with glasses and lab coats. In fiction scientists have become frequently portrayed in this way, if not they are almost always of the mad and evil kind, either way they’re not cool. You go beyond that and science is just something these weird people like, this mysterious entity that only a select few know about and will inevitably use to cause Armageddon like Pinky and The Brain.
There appears to be something of a little science boom at the moment, perhaps the media coverage of the Large Hadron Collider initiated it or maybe it’s because TV shows like Fringe and The Big Bang Theory and sci-fi films such as Star Trek, Avatar and District 9 have brought science into the mainstream. Science documentaries have become much easier to find this year especially on the BBC and their latest project Secrets of the Universe indicates that the stigma towards science is fading and it is ready to reach a wider audience.
Secrets of the Universe started on BBC3 last night, a science programme on BBC3, you heard me right. It’s aim is pretty clear, to make science accessible, simple, and not just for geeks. To make it easy to understand it is formatted in the same way as every other BBC3 documentary, bright colours, popular music and a typically cool presenter. The show promises to explain the concepts of the universe without stepping inside a lab and just using everyday objects and the great outdoors.
What the first hour of this series explained was the Big Bang theory, red shift, waves, gravity and stars. It did this by exploding a water melon, playing guitar in a moving car, surfing, and making toast with mirrors. This all seems to be smoke and mirrors (har har) though and in one hour not very much has been explained. I understand it’s effectively science for simpletons but a GCSE student would find it patronising. If you took out all the gratuitous “WACKY!” stunts the show would last twenty minutes, which I think would be a good thing.
Presenter Greg Foot just comes across as a colossal twat, he’s sort of like science’s Jamie Oliver. He’s the archetype of BBC3 presenters in that he’s young, conventional, brightly dressed and absolutely determined to come across all trendy. In fact I got the feeling that this hour was more an attempt at showing us how cool he was than explaining how the universe works. He introduces himself as 27 (who the fuck does that?) in front of a backdrop of photos of himself in various outdoor pursuits as if to say look what I do (YOU‘RE A PRICK!). He continually uses his wealth of many mates to demonstrate the concepts and also to show us how many mates he has. There is one totally pointless scene in which he explains something in a pub while he has a pint with just a few of his many mates so we can see how frickin’ damn cool he is. He says “shit” a few times as well so we can relate to him and as an extension, science itself. Don’t say fuck though that’s going too far. What annoyed me the most was when he explained waves by surfing. He clearly bought some “WACKY!” board shorts just for the show and was so intent on wearing them he put them on over a wet suit, what a cunt.
This format fits perfectly into the ideals of BBC3 and I wouldn’t be surprised if the producers just cut the documentary so he came across this way, he’s probably a really nice guy and just wants to tell us about science. That said the show would be far more effective if it wasn’t trying so hard and just told us about some science. Wonders of the Solar System was detailed yet simple and focused on the wonders (obviously) of science rather than how gnarly it is. Brian Cox shows that you don’t have to jump around with your mates drinking beer and saying shit to make science cool. People who watch BBC3 get distracted approximately every 3 seconds though and maybe giving them just a little bit of scientific knowledge between every “shit” may eventually lead to an influx of more in depth programming as science becomes more popular.
The thing is though that the BBC already has a regular science programme, Bang goes the Theory, which works so much better. Finding a balance between simplicity and detail, the show is never patronising nor too complex and often relates science to current affairs. It does suffer from being a little too “Blue Peter” which doesn’t do anything for the cool, and it’s hard to attract a wide audience when your clear intention is to educate.
The Big Bang Theory on the other hand is primarily a comedy but as it references scientific concepts it is subversively educating the audience. The show is Leonard and Sheldon and we the audience are Penny, as she learns so do we. The current Sci-fi boom in film should ignite interest in science but it also might deter interest as well. Leaving the cinema after watching Inception I overheard someone saying that his brain had never worked so hard in all his life, probably true but Inception is hardly String theory, in fact it’s hardly science.
Secrets of the Universe is important in that in its own BBC3 way, can change the attitude that many people have towards science. Along with other programmes and indeed films, it can become accessible, popular and ultimately cool, and nerdy will be the new sexy.