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UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20545

No. S-16-70 FOR RELEASE AT 8 P.M. EDT Tel. 973-3446 (Info.) FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1970 973-5371 (Copies)

Remarks by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, Chairman U. S. Atomic Energy Commission and President, Science Service at the International Science Fair Awards Banquet Baltimore, Maryland May 15, 1970

SCIENCE SERVICE - A HISTORY AND TRIBUTE

We are approaching the 50th Anniversary of Science Service, a remarkable organization which has had an impact on the lives of millions of Americans. An educational activity in the broadest sense of the term, it has led the development first of efforts to improve the public under- standing of science, and, later, in the organization and encouragement of extracurricular science activities on a wide basis in secondary and elementary schools throughout the country.

Science Service was the brainchild of the late E. W. Scripps, one of the founders of the Scripps -Howard news- paper chain, who for years had been concerned about the chasm between actual scientific achievement and the public knowledge and understanding of such achievement. As he saw it, the most important articles on science were printed in specialized publications of limited circulation, and in terms not within the comprehension of the average reader. Much psuedo-science was published, but the scientific news of real importance never reached the public. To translate scientific developments into popular terms, and to give them a wider circulation, was what Mr. Scripps hoped to bring about.

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Looking at the popular communication of science today, this may seem like not much of a problem. But fifty years is a long time, and we tend to forget how things have changed both in the communication of science and in science itself.

If we go back to 1921, the year that Science Service was founded, we will see it was the year that a German scien- tist named received the in . It was six years before Heisenberg proposed his , nine years before Whittle developed the first jet engine, ten years before Lawrence and Living- ston constructed the first cyclotron, eighteen years before the first use of DDT, twenty-four years before the first atomic bomb, and forty-eight years before man first set foot on the .

It was also a time when a scientist was pictured in the mass media as a funny little old man with a beard, crouching over a Bunsen burner and fuming test tubes and retorts. It was a time when the way to report a scientific meeting was to pick out the longest and most complicated title on the program and write a humorous story about it. In those days, many editors thought of science (when they thought of it at all) in terms of perpetual machines, death rays, sea serpents "missing links," Atlantis, and telepathy. And even when there was an editor who was willing to run a real science story, there were pitfalls in reporting, well-meaning but ignorant copywriters who changed the story, and headline writers who did even worse.

It was Mr. Scripps' idea to form a nonprofit corporation aimed at increasing the amount of science information made available to the newspapers, and to encourage more inter- esting and accurate reporting of science. Knowing that there was a problem within the scientific community itself, which was quite belligerent about the manner in which science was generally handled, the new organization was set up with nine of its fifteen Board of Trustees appointed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Acad- emy of Sciences, and the National Research Council. Three others were appointed by the E. W. Scripps Trust, and three by the journalistic profession. This original arrangement still persists today.

It should be emphasized that Mr. Scripps did not envisage the organization as being one which would be a public relations agency for science. In fact, he said, "The first aim of this institution should be just the reverse of what is called propa- ganda. Its objects should never be to furnish arguments or facts for the purpose of producing partisans for any particular cause.

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Its sole object should be to present facts in a readable and interesting form - facts on which the reader could and prob- ably would base his opinion on a subject..." On April 2, 1921, Science Service, then six weeks old, distributed its first "bulletin" in a new press service - aimed at providing specialized and expertly written science news for the use of the country's newspapers. This was a bold and innovative step to try to bring more and better science news to the country through what was the most impor- tant means of communication available.

Many newspapers were enthusiastic, and the Buffalo Evening News, in an ad describing the new service, proclaimed "When the flapperceases flapping and the bootleg still runs dry - when all the passing frivol is forgotten, the achieve- ments of our scientists will be remembered. Startling dis- coveries are being made and new phenomena are being unfolded, but relatively few people understand. Now all this is being changed - through 'Science Service'."

By the second year, the service was well on its way with thirty-one clients whose total circulation was over 3,000,000. This was later to get up to over 100 clients, with a total circulation of over 30,000,000. The service also developed many features, later copied extensively, including "Why the Weather," "Test Yourself," "'s Notebook," "Map of the Stars," and "Today's Health."

But more important was the regular coverage of science as news, feeding well-written, accurate, and interesting stories to the newspapers every day. Of course there was some good science at that time, but it tended to be on Sunday, with occasional stories during the week, off and on. It was the impact of good stories on a regular basis that made the difference.

The next development was reported in 1922 to the Science Service Board. "A new and promising development has arisen out of the increasing demand from individuals for the Science News Bulletin. We began to get many requests from libraries, research establishments and school teachers. Since we had the matter already mimeographed, additional copies could be struck off and mailed with little expense." Thus, the Science News Letter, consisting of news bulletins stapled together, was founded, to become a printed magazine in 1926. (more) 4

From this developed the present Science News, the only weekly news magazine on science and the applications of science. It has a circulation of about 115,000, and covers physics, astronomy, , earth sciences, environmental sciences, engineering, life sciences, medicine, the behavorial sciences, and science policy. Written by experienced science journalists, the magazine treats science as news, to be re- ported accurately and in perspective.

Science News became one of the major activities of Science Service, and is a logical extension of the thinking which went into the original development of the organization. Perhaps its purpose could be described as "current awareness" to keep people aware of and informed of new developments at a time when the body of scientific knowledge is increasing at a rate which will make it double in a ten-year period, and when the interval between discovery and application is dramatically decreasing.

It is first aimed at the citizen - in particular the college-educated "mental worker" stratum of the population, which is made up of people who are interested and active in community, state, and national affairs. These persons influ- ence decisions in that they are the audience to which the leaders speak most often, because they feed information to the leaders, and because they also communicate to other portions of the general public.

A second important group is the teachers, especially at the high school and college level. Science is moving so rapidly today that the teacher's general background knowledge from his college education is not enough. He needs some means of keeping up with new developments, of surveying across a broad spectrum of developments, together with some means for interpretation as to their possible impact on society.

A third group is the students, whom we reach not only through the teacher, but directly through the magazine it- self. Science News does not have an enormous number of student subscribers, but the so-called "passalong readership" is large, and we estimate that we are read by something of the order of 800,000 young people each week.

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The fourth group includes the scientist himself. In recent years, we have come to realize that even the special- ist is often little more than a layman in every scientific discipline but his own, and that he too needs some means of keeping in close contact with new ideas and discoveries in other disciplines. Given the pressures of keeping up in his own field, our magazine fills a very useful role in providing him with a concise yet broad survey of new developments.

In addition, today's scientist is increasingly being called upon to be a very special kind of citizen, to have a concern not only for the production of new knowledge, but also for the uses to which it is put. Again, the magazine provides him with an opportunity to keep up with developments in a broad perspective, and to be better qualified to act his new role.

An important area of effort for Science Service, almost from the beginning, has also been the publication of books, usually in collaboration with a commercial publisher. "Chats on Science" was one of the first, popular articles on various aspects of a variety of disciplines. This was succeeded by many others, including "The Story of Copper," "Science Picture Parade," "Science from Shipboard" (during World War II), "Wonderful World of Science," "The Natural World: A Guide to North American Wildlife," "The Changing Earth" and "The Elements."

The most recent book publishing effort has been the "Science News Yearbook," an annual volume published by Scribner's Sons. Based largely on the material printed in Science News, the publication provides a more lasting eval- uation and account of the progress in the fields of science and its applications than is possible in the magazine, a chance to look over our shoulders, as it were, at the road science has traveled during the year.

I must also mention the activities of Science Service in radio, lasting from 1930 to 1959, when it collaborated with CBS in the production of a network series called "Ad- ventures in Science." This was one of the first, and often only, regular science radio programs during a key period when radio broadcasting was a primary medium of communication. It had an interview format, and over 1,300 scientists appeared, including such persons as , , Luis Alvarez, Harold , Earnest Hooton, Paul Sears, Arnold Gesell and myself.

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One would think that with its activities in communicating science to the public, Science Service would have stopped there. But it did not, and almost thirty years ago began pioneering in another area just as unusual and of equal im- portance. This came about because of the belief that science as it was taught in the schools was often not interesting and as a result many students did not achieve as well as they might or were completely alienated from science.

This resulted in the Science Youth Activities Program, which encourages extracurricular activities as a means of interesting young people in science and giving them experiences which they would not otherwise have. The activities include investigative work (individual or group research projects, work as an apprentice in a laboratory), enrichment activities (attending special lectures, visiting laboratories), communica- tions activities (giving papers at junior academy meetings, attending congresses), and competitions (science fairs, the Science Talent Search). These activities take place in school after hours, at home, in scientists' laboratories, and in a variety of other places.

The program consists of the following activities: Science Clubs of America, the International Science Fair, the Science Talent Search, and THINGS of Science.

Science Clubs of America consist of some 20,000 affiliated clubs with an estimated membership of over 400,000 aspiring young scientists. The member clubs consist of high school or elementary school students interested in science, and an adult advisor, who is often a teacher. Membership in individual clubs ranges from seven or eight to several hundred, with the average may being around twenty. Some schools have one club, and others have as many as five or six, specializing in Biology or Mathe- matics or Astronomy.

What do clubs do? The most popular activities are running of science fairs, taking field trips to laboratories or places natural history interest, and listening to outside speakers on (scientists, engineers or doctors) who address the members some topic of current scientific interest. Other activities include research projects, participation in Junior Academy of Science programs, science congresses, astronomy observation, Saturday morning experiment meetings, showing science films, tutoring other students, providing laboratory assistants for the school, rocket construction and launching, and operating weather stations. (more) 7

You may have noted that one of the most popular club activities is the sponsorship of science fairs. This is a natural tie-in with our International Science Fair program, which administers the International Science Fair, and encour- ages the formation of science fairs at a regional and local level.

Each year over one million students in high school and elementary school participate in science fair competitions with displays running from simple models or collections by younger students to award-winning exhibits of research projects on such topics as "Field-Effect Transistors and Field-Effect Transistor-Amplifiers at -195°C" and "An Intracorporeal Extra- ventricular Cardiac Prosthesis."

Science fairs are competitions between students who ex- hibit the results of projects they have done in science or science-related areas. Senior science fair exhibits are usually based on work in which the student has done an indepen- dent laboratory, field or theoretical investigation. Junior exhibits are more limited in nature, and while they may be experimental, are more often a display of some scientific principle or of a collection.

The fairs are organized in successive stages, so that the winners of smaller fairs compete in larger ones on a city- wide or regional basis. The culmination of these competitions is the International Science Fair, where two students from each affiliated fair (over 400 students in all) compete for honors before almost 500 judges (scientists, engineers, doctors, and mathematicians).

Science fairs started almost forty years ago, and received their biggest boost in 1941 when Science Service took a direct interest in promoting them through Science Clubs of America. Then, in 1950, additional incentive was provided through the formation of the International Science Fair.

The first International Science Fair was held in , Pennsylvania, with a grand total of 13 affiliated fairs and 30 finalists representing about 15,000 students at their supporting fairs. Since then, the increase in science fairs has been remarkable, and now the International Science Fair has about 220 affiliated fairs (including a number in foreign countries) with over 400 student participants representing over 1,000,000 exhibits in the supporting fairs in the .

The increase in the quality of the entries has been even more remarkable. At the first ISF, six of the entries were simply models, something which is at best for elementary school children in fairs now. Today, the sophistication is altogether (more) 8 exceptional, and it is not unusual to have complaints from scientist judges who feel that they do not have sufficient background to evaluate all the exhibits to which they have been assigned.

I had the privilege of participating on an annual basis as a judge in the San Francisco Bay Area Science Fair when I was a resident of that area. I spoke to the participants in the International Science Fair at Los Angeles in 1957 and, if we include this evening, have participated in this manner at six of the last eight of these Fairs.

On a more specialized level is the Science Talent Search, which identifies high school seniors talented in science and mathematics. The Science Talent Search is different from most other scholarship programs in that it places the greatest emphasis on the quality of an independent research project done by the participant, and on answers to essay-type questions and personal questions by judges designed to elicit information about abilities such as originality and curiosity. Grades and test scores are used only in a supplementary way, and have only a minor effect on judging decisions.

Forty finalists are selected from among 300 Honorable Mentions who in turn have been chosen from among some 2,500 completed and eligible entries. The forty receive a five-day all-expense-paid trip to Washington to compete for scholarships and awards totaling $67,500. In addition, there are State Science Talent Searches in 43 states and the District of Columbia, utilizing the same project reports and other mate- rials, and providing a number of other awards and scholarships for participants. I first spoke to the participants in the Washington Science Talent Search in 1946 and have participated as a judge in this event during each of the last seven years.

The last part of the Science Youth Activities Program has the somewhat unusual name of "THINGS of Science." These are small kits which permit undertaking simple "science experi- ments" at home. Available on a monthly subscription basis like a magazine, THINGS are now mailed to some 20,000 subscribers.

Each kit contains an instructional booklet, plus five to ten items, ranging from BB shot to a package of carbon black to a star chart. Topics have included a wide range of sub- jects, such as Holography, Textile Fiber Identification, Pendulums, Humidity, Vision, Pinhole Photography, Coal, Sur- face Tension, Herbs, Weather, Simple Machines, and Gravity.

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The units are aimed at the junior high school level, and the largest percentage of subscribers are probably children ranging from 10 to 16 years, though many parents subscribe for younger children, and adults subscribe as well. Most subscriptions are rarely continued for over four or five years unless there are a number of children in the family, but we do have repeats every generation. One grandmother in Salt Lake City wrote us "Many years ago, I subscribed to THINGS of Science for my two sons. Nothing in their education has had such a profound effect. Now I should like to do the same for my grandsons."

THINGS of Science kits certainly provide an important extra dimension to the education of a child, particularly when one considers that they are usually used at home. Here the child is "doing" science as well as reading about it, learning on his own, and realizing that science is not some- thing learned from a textbook, but an exciting and interesting occupation.

Involving all aspects of the Science Youth Activities Program is the international aspect of the undertaking - which simply tries to help and encourage science youth activities of all sorts in other countries. It has had a wide effect, and there are probably 80 countries in the world that have science youth activities of one sort or another, almost all the result of Science Service efforts. I will not try to describe many of them, but I should mention science clubs in Thailand and France, science fairs in Argentina and Japan, a Science Talent Search in India, and THINGS of Science in the United Kingdom and Peru.

And so I think you will agree that Science Service has had an extremely varied program. What has been the impact, and what remains for the future?

First, on the public understanding of science side, there seems no doubt that Science Service has played an important role in making science acceptable to the American press, par- ticularly in getting editors and other "gatekeepers" to look on science as a legitimate subject of genuine interest to their readers.

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This was accomplished in several ways. Fifty years ago, science was reported only occasionally at best, and the Science Service bulletins coming in regularly provided a wide range of stories to be used. In addition, the stories were written for reader interest as well as with a high regard for accuracy, and so were more useable than other materials had been in the past.

A second important achievement was in gaining acceptance for the idea that science reporting was a full-time specialty, requiring highly trained and competent persons. Too often science coverage in the past had been by well-meaning but scientifically illiterate general reporters, whose efforts did more harm than good. Science Service helped to lead the way toward professionalism in science reporting that has helped greatly to improve the quality of coverage.

The reverse of the coin is that Science Service was also instrumental in making scientists more willing to cooperate with reporters, and thus improving the ability of the press to do its job well. The poor quality of science writing had previously meant that many scientists considered reporters to be enemies rather than friends, and that nothing would be reported with any integrity. By placing a high premium on accuracy Science Service was able to help gain the essential cooperation from scientists that was necessary if really good communication to the public was to take place.

Despite these achievements, much remains to be done, for although the communication of science to the public has im- proved in both quality and quantity, the need has increased concurrently so that if anything, we are not as well off as before. This is despite greatly improved education in science in both schools and colleges as well. For scientific knowledge is increasing so rapidly that much of what an adult needs to know is not even in existence at the time he is in school. And one cannot learn ideas that don't exist.

Thus, more than ever, we must develop expanded ways in which adults can keep abreast of the new scientific information that is being generated, as well as fill in the gaps in their educational background.

I cannot more than touch on some of the opportunities that we envisage in this important effort. Science News seems to us to have simply enormous potential for providing a key segment of the population with current news on developments

(more) in science. Certainly, our circulation could and should reach at least five times as many people as we now do, and the only limit that we see at the present time is the lack of funds for the necessary promotion.

Another area of concern is how to reach those other than the well-educated. We are now reaching primarily the college - level part of our population, and we are doing a great deal of thinking about how to reach the persons who are less well- educated, but who need a better understanding of science as much if not more than the others.

An important aspect of communications today is that they are no longer restricted to print, and we need to develop programs in the non-print media. We are studying the possi- bility of a TV science service for TV news programs, and are looking at a number of other possibilities as well: home TV, a service for cable TV operators, audio tape cassettes, and facsimile. All these make us feel that the future has even more exciting and important opportunities than the past.

What about science youth activities? The impact of our program has been widespread as well, for it has expanded tremendously since it started, and has probably reached or affected more than 50,000,000 young people in one way or another. In doing this, it has made a number of contributions

It has provided an opportunity for students to get the "feel" as well as the facts of science - for students to participate in the "doing" of science in a way that is still being utilized in only a limited way in the formal curriculum. In the process, science youth activities have motivated thousands if not millions of young people, giving them a greater interest in their schoolwork and a more realistic idea of what science is all about.

It has provided recognition for many students whose abilities lie more in practical laboratory work rather than academic achievement, and has encouraged many of them to go on to careers in science.

And it has given the future laymen (as opposed to the future scientists) a better understanding of science to carry with them to their adult lives, a better ability to cope with and learn about some of the new developments and new impacts of science on their lives.

What about the future? There are many directions that we would like to pursue. First, although our program is already a large one, there are many more young people that

(more) - 12 - we should be reaching. In particular, we should like to get to more "future laymen" to give them a better understanding of one of the most important elements in their lives. We should be reaching more urban minority groups, for at the present time these are badly underrepresented in science youth activities. We should be working more with younger children, more at the elementary school level than we are now doing. And we need a great deal more research and under- standing on the contributions that science youth activities make to the cognitive and emotive development of young people.

The past fifty years have been rewarding ones for Science Service, and I think that if Mr. Scripps were here today, he would be pleased with what his brainchild has accomplished. For we have developed a scientific educational organization in the broadest possible sense of the term, encouraging the learning of science at the individual's own initiative and on his own time from the early years throughout his adult life.

I cannot close without paying tribute to one person who more than anyone is responsible for the success of Science Service. I speak of Watson Davis, Director of Science Service for some forty years. Watson Davis was a superb science writer. He was the first science radio newscaster. He was the source of numerous new ideas for popularizing science. He was completely dedicated to science youth activities and was responsible for many innovations in that field. He was indeed a pioneer in communicating about science to the public, and the accomplishments of Science Service were in large measure directly due to his wisdom and foresight.

And I know that if he were here today, he would join me in saying that despite the accomplishments of the past, the future has even greater possibilities for expansion and new developments. The rapid increase in both the body of scien- tific knowledge and its widespread application means that people are going to have to know more rather than less science in the future. We must do everything possible to make this important information available to all people, of all ages, of all economic levels, in all the countries of the world.