I used to find Alan Alda annoying when he hosted Scientific American on PBS.
The guy was constantly showing how ignorant he was about whatever branch
of science he was presenting in the program. I kept asking where are the
Carl Sagans of the world who could do so much better.

I have definitely changed my views on Alda when I found out how much he
really liked science and was essentially "playing" the role of the interested but
clueless public. Being interested is half the battle when it comes to science
education.

Below is the latest post on the excellent Cosmic Variance Web blog about
Alda's visit to USC and his attempts to get the students to show their
speaking audiences just how much and why they are into the field that
they are in.

I am reminded of the news conference I saw on C-SPAN in 1997 where a
panel of scientists involved with Mars Pathfinder (remember that mission?)
were presenting some of the results from that little rover. The scientists
were about as exciting as paint drying and explaining things in terms that
were clearly going over the heads of the reports present.

Finally one of the reporters asked if one of the scientists could explain
the properties of the Martian surface in familiar terrestrial terms, rather
than the austere geological ones they kept throwing around. The scientist
said Martian regolith was similar to wet beach sand and right there you
could see two sets of light bulbs going off - one from the reports who
could finally relate to the data they were being given and the other from
the scientists who finally got it that the reporters weren't getting it or
getting into it and needed a few Earth-based pointers to get it and
appreciate it. The rest of the news conference went much smoother
and the level of interest rose appreciably. I would love to know if there
is a record of that somewhere to see again.

One other related offside: I remember Alda interviewing Carl Sagan at
his home in a 1994 installment of Scientific American about alien life.
Sagan informed Alda that signals from our radio and television broadcasts
were streaming into space essentially forever, adding with a smile that
M*A*S*H was also going into deep space. Alda remarked that he hadn't
gotten the residuals from there yet. :^)

Anyway, here is the original post that started this all:

Show the Love

Sean at 2:10 pm, January 17th, 2008

Yesterday we went to see a chat with Alan Alda and KC Cole at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication, as advertised by Clifford here. Alda was apparently some kind of TV actor back in the day, but he is also quite the science aficionado — hosting Scientific American Frontiers on PBS, and originating the role of Richard Feynman in Peter Parnell’s play QED.

The most interesting story we heard was one that happened just the day before, when Alda and Cole visited with some students at USC’s engineering school. Apparently it was quite a day, beginning with short presentations by each of the students about the work they were doing. After the presentations, Alda led the students through a series of improvisation exercises from Viola Spolin’s classic workbook. After which, the students were asked to give their presentations again! Apparently (I have to take their word for it), the first time around the students were pretty darn good, but the second time they truly came to life.

Giving talks, or presenting ideas more generally, is one of the necessary skills of academic life that we usually presume one just picks up on street corners. The idea that, for example, college professors should learn how to teach classes would be an anathema to most actual college professors. But there is a lot of skill involved, and practice and learning can really make a difference. (The same would go for writing papers, or being an advisor, or a thousand other aspects of being a professor.)

My favorite part of the chat was Alda’s admonition to scientists to “Show the Love.” He was moved by the evident passion for their work exhibited by the students, but recognized that it didn’t always come through during scientific presentations. So here is some simple advice to young scientists giving talks: show the love! (Good advice to old scientists, too, but there’s no hope they would listen.) Let it be clear that you are absolutely fascinated by this work you are doing. You’re not in it for the money and fame, one presumes. Don’t look at a talk as a terrifying ordeal to be stoically survived; look at it as a chance to share some of your passion with other people who haven’t delved as deeply into the material as you have. I know we’re not supposed to use icky words like “love” in the rigorously austere corridors of professional physics, but this is a case where a little culture-changing wouldn’t hurt anybody.

And if you’re not all that passionate about what you’re doing — switch to doing something you really do love.

http://cosmicvariance.com/2008/01/17/show-the-love/

Alan Alda tackles 'MATH' - and science - in conversation

San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/01/17/NSUEUFKP8.DTL&type=printable

Paul Kilduff

January 17, 2008

Pick the brain of your garden-variety Hollywood celebrity about science, and
chances are the exercise won't take too long - unless you're talking to Alan
Alda. Just to make sure he really knows his stuff, in "MATH" Alda will undergo a
thorough examination of his science acumen onstage tonight courtesy of Bob
Osserman of the MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE in Berkeley.

Best known as Hawkeye Pierce in the enduring '70s TV classic comedy "MASH," Alda
has long held an interest in science. An unabashed fan of the actor, Osserman
became aware of Alda's thirst for science when the actor hosted the PBS series
"Scientific American Frontiers."

"He's not just going through the motions," Osserman says. In his role as
interviewer, Osserman doesn't have a checklist of issues to cover. He sees his
job as opening Alda up to touch on a number of topics. "Who knows where he's
going to go?" ...

7 p.m. today. $22/$14. Roda Theater. 2015 Addison St. (near the Downtown
Berkeley BART Station), Berkeley. (510) 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org (click on
"Buy Tickets").