Selling the Science of the LCLS
Thursday, August 28, 2008
I took a trip to Lexington Kentucky last month. While I was there I had a few conversations with the local residents. Inevitably the conversation turned to what I did for a living. I explained that I was a scientist working on the X-ray laser project at SLAC. The locals had never heard of the project before but to my surprise they were very interested to learn more. I described the applications we planned on using the LCLS for and what contributions these experiments could make to our current knowledge. Their interest was genuine and I had the impression that projects such as the LCLS made them proud of their country. They seemed happy to hear about something positive.
I must admit, I often feel the same way. Watching the news is generally a very negative experience. The topics these days are typically limited to a declining economy, war in Iraq, inflation, crime, and various other depressing issues. I think people would be receptive to hearing about positive ways their tax dollars are being spent. The LCLS is a good example and we have a chance to take the initiative and spread the word about this exciting machine. However, we must do a much better job than what we’ve done thus far. As an example, we can take a look at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. People know about the big machine that crosses the Swiss-French border. It’s actually so popular that the now famous author of The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown, has written a New York Times best-selling follow up novel that uses the LHC as a major scene called Angels and Demons. The book fascinated the public so much that a movie adaptation staring Tom Hanks is expected to be in theaters in the spring of 2009. Why is the LHC so popular? Is it simply the enormous price tag of that experiment that draws attention? I don’t think so. Take a stop in the physics section of your local bookstore and do a quick survey of the books in that aisle. What you’ll notice is that most of the books are about the origin of the universe, supersymmetry, string theory, etc. These seem to be the topics that resonate with the public. I can see where this stems from since this type of research aims at answering many of the basic questions we’ve all asked at some point: Where did we come from? How did the universe begin? The LHC was constructed to improve our understanding of these questions. However, I doubt that the experimental evidence of theoretically predicted particles will have role in the problems facing our globe today. The basic research that will be performed at the LCLS may very well alter our understanding of many processes relevant to energy applications. This is now a forefront topic of global relevance that will only grow. It’s time to start selling our science and our facility and we now have a unique opportunity in time, a time where this is a topic on everyone’s minds, that we must take advantage of. I look forward to the day when the average citizen will recognize the LCLS. Does anyone have Dan Brown’s number? posted by David Fritz @ 12:00pm
|
