“Far more to it than appears on the surface”: An historical investigation of the interface between space science and the British mass media A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of PhD in the History of Science and Technology in the Faculty of Life Sciences 2011 James Farry Contents Title page ................................ ................................ ............................... 1 Contents ................................................................................................. 2 Abbreviations ........................................................................................... 5 Abstract .................................................................................................. 7 Lay Abstract............................................................................................. 9 Declaration .............................................................................................11 Copyright Statement .................................................................................11 Acknowledgments .....................................................................................12 The Author .............................................................................................13 Chapter 1 Introduction: Beagle 2 .............................................................. 14 Literature Review and Conceptual Framework: Prising open the black box of production ................................................. 16 A common production arena: The main hypothesis ............................ 33 Thesis Outline ......................................................................... 40 Chapter 2 “Afraid of making space interesting”: The reluctant advocacy of the British Interplanetary Society .............................. 45 “An appreciation and a plea”: Early interactions between the BIS and the media ............................................................... 46 Outcomes that cannot be determined a priori: The BIS and its fear of mediation ............................................................ 54 The BIS in the rocketry age: Popularisation disguised as PR ..................................................................................... 60 A reluctant advocacy group with an embedded distrust of the media: The invisibility of the BIS in the space age ............................. 68 Conclusion .............................................................................. 76 Chapter 3 “Scientific news written in a readable way”: The development of science journalists ............................................. 79 Peter Chalmers Mitchell: The first and last professional populariser ............................................................................. 81 JG Crowther: A scientific journalist ..............................................84 Ritchie Calder: Disguised public relations officer for science .................................................................................. 92 Postwar science writing: The incompatibility of scientific journalism and science journalism ................................................ 97 2 Print media popular science in the space age: Science writers are not science journalists ............................................. 104 Conclusion ............................................................................ 113 Chapter 4 “Entertaining, interesting and responsible”: The development of science broadcasting in the BBC .......................... 116 A conflict of expertise: Production negotiations in interwar science broadcasting .................................................... 117 Science on radio: The consolidation of science broadcasters ......................................................................... 122 Science on television: Translating science broadcasting into the visual medium ............................................................ 127 Public service populism: Science programming and commercial television ............................................................... 135 Conclusion ............................................................................. 140 Chapter 5 The BBC in the space age: Using science broadcasters and satellite broadcasting to compete for audiences .......................... 143 Challenges and opportunities for science broadcasters in an entertainment culture ...................................................... 145 The Science Consultative Group: Deflecting science broadcasting problems ............................................................. 150 At the mercy of fashion: The ‘problem’ of science in the broadcast media ................................................................ 157 The BBC and space technology: Exploring the potential of satellite broadcasting ........................................................... 163 Practical yet impractical: The impact of Telstar on British satellite broadcasting ...................................................... 169 The US sews the system up: The BBC as a reluctant satellite broadcasting consumer ................................................... 173 Conclusion .............................................................................. 175 Chapter 6 Constructing an iconic narrative: Aligned and divergent Interests at the Jodrell Bank-media interface .............................. 179 ‘Selling’ the telescope as a spectacle: Lovell’s pragmatic approach to mass media promotion ............................................. 180 Protecting the project in crisis: Tensions flare in the Jodrell Bank-media relationship .................................................. 186 3 The serendipity of Sputnik: The media construction of the Jodrell Bank telescope as a space age icon ..................................... 196 Conclusion ............................................................................ 203 Chapter 7 Conclusion: Reflections on the common production arena ............... 206 The ‘problem’ of science and the media ....................................... 210 ‘Boundary spanners’ ............................................................... 213 Further development and contribution to the discourse on science, media and the public ................................................... 216 Bibliography ......................................................................................... 220 Archival sources..................................................................... 220 Primary sources ..................................................................... 230 Secondary literature ............................................................... 244 Word count: 105, 230 (including footnotes); 94, 113 (excluding footnotes). 4 Abbreviations ABSW: Association of British Science Writers. ACSP: Advisory Council on Scientific Policy. AIS: American Interplanetary Society. ADS: Astronautical Development Society. ARS: American Rocketry Society. ASW: Association of Scientific Workers. BA: British Association. BAA: British Astronomical Association. BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation. BC: British Council. BIS: British Interplanetary Society. BMA: British Medical Association. BNCSR: British National Committee on Space Research. CBAS: Combined British Astronautical Societies. CBS: Columbia Broadcasting System (US). COBE: Cosmic Background Explorer. DSIR: Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. EBU: European Broadcasting Union (or Eurovision). EBU ESS: EBU Eurovision and Satellite Section. ELDO: European Launcher Development Organisation. ESA: European Space Agency. ESRO: European Space Research Organisation. FBIS: Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society. FRS: Fellow of the Royal Society. FRAS: Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. GAC: BBC General Advisory Council (or Board of Governors). GPO: General Post Office. IAC: International Astronautical Congress. IAF: International Astronautical Federation. IEE: Institute of Electrical Engineers. IGY: International Geophysical Year. ITA: Independent Television Authority. ITN: Independent Television Network (or Independent Television News). ITV: Independent Television (including ITA, Channel 4, etc). MAA: Manchester Astronautical Association. MAS: Manchester Astronomical Society. MIS: Manchester Interplanetary Society. NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 5 NBC: National Broadcasting Company (US). OBFS: Outside Broadcasts, Features and Science (BBC Television Division). OUP: Oxford University Press. PAC: Public Accounts Committee. PBIS: President of the British Interplanetary Society. PR: Public Relations. PRO: Public Relations Officer. PRS: President of the Royal Society. PUS: Public Understanding of Science. RAF: Royal Air Force. RAS: Royal Astronomical Society. RI: Royal Institution. RGO: Royal Greenwich Observatory. SAC: BBC Scientific Advisory Committee. SCG: Science Consultative Group. SRC: Science Research Council. UN: United Nations. UNESCO: United Nations Education, Social and Cultural Organisation. VfR: Verein für Raumschiffahrt (German Society for Space Travel). ZSL: Zoological Society of London. 6 Abstract University of Manchester James Farry PhD History of Science and Technology “Far more to it than appears on the surface”: An historical investigation of the interface between space science and the British mass media September 2011. In November 1953, the editor of the Manchester Guardian , AP Wadsworth, responded to Jodrell Bank Director Bernard Lovell regarding a complaint over an