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Tell all the Truth but tell it slant - Success in Circuit lies,Too bright for our infirm DelightThe Truth’s superb surprise;As Lightning to the Children easedWith explanation kind The Truth must dazzle graduallyOr every man be blind -

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

There are numerous reasons why it is important to communicate sci-ence to society. We live in a world that has been shaped by and de-pends profoundly on science and technology. Scientific literacy, the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes, promotes lifelong learning skills that can be used in everyday life for better and more informed decision-making. It is also important to bring to light the potential economic benefits of investing in sci-ence, and how this investment will have high returns for society. Curiosity-driven, or basic, research provides new knowledge with the potential to create many opportunities. It can lead to fundamen-tal discoveries but also to unforeseen developments, including some

the art of storyteLLIng Nicole Skinner

Institute for Catalan Studies, Barcelona, Catalonia Academia Europaea | Barcelona Knowledge Hub, Barcelona

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of the most important technologies we use today, such as the World Wide Web, conceived and developed at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN); the GPS, as an example of the com-mercial application of a military system, or even Google.

To engage people with science we must show them what sci-ence is, what it means, and why we need it. Science satisfies our intellectual curiosity, humanity’s drive and desire to understand the natural and physical world in which we live in. But what exactly is science? According to the UK’s Science Council, it is “the pur-suit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natu-ral and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.” And yet science is a collective enterprise carried out by people, it is not perfect. Its uniqueness, however, lies in the fact that it is self-regulating. It has an inherent integrity that society should be able to trust. In Lynn’s words, “there is no Truth, but science is the best way of knowing.”

Anyone who met Lynn Margulis personally would immediately sense that she was as passionate an individual as they come. In the words of Pam Pelletier, Science Program Director for Boston Public Schools, “Lynn was a bright fire in the world of science—and if you were lucky enough to get close, you could also feel the warmth of her humanity and her commitment to making teachers, students, everyone, better understand our biosphere and how it came to be.”

Lynn’s most important contribution as a scientist was her theory of serial endosymbiosis, which represents a milestone in the his-tory of science. But Lynn was also a teacher in the deepest sense of the word. Throughout her life, she took an interest in creating and developing teaching materials, producing a wonderful collection of curriculum units, educational videos, and books. In doing so, she

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helped scientists to recognize that they also needed to be teachers, and teachers that they too had to be scientists.

Besides her teaching abilities, Lynn had a zest for communicat-ing science to the public. She was entertaining and stimulating; she had a vivacious energy and would discuss with great enthusiasm any topic at hand. But more importantly, perhaps, she retained a childish sense of wonder at what life is and had an innate ability to pass that excitement on to others—she made our inherent curiosity come alive.

For Lynn, science was not a solitary practice. She was all about connecting ideas, thoughts and people, and she strongly believed

Visit to the Government of the Balearic Islands during the celebration of the International Symposium, “Darwin: 150 years after the theory of evolution.” Palma de Mallorca, June 11–12

2009. From left to right: Wendy Ran, Nicole Skinner, Jacqueline Fortey, Richard Fortey, Bàrbara Galmés, Anna Omedes, Francesc Antich, Lynn Margulis, Sheldon Glashow,

Antoni Riera, Bartomeu Llinàs, Misericòrdia Ramon, Ricard Guerrero. Photo courtesy of the Government of the Balearic Islands.

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that the diffusion of knowledge and the promotion of scientific cul-ture were equally important to research. “It’s not science to me un-less it’s integrated,” Lynn said, “unless you have a story of something you can tell other people, and a story that makes sense.” And Lynn’s stories were the key to her success as a science communicator.

It has been argued that 95 % of our scientific literacy comes from informal learning, outside of classroom walls, in the form of educational television and radio shows, movies and documentaries, science museums, zoos, aquariums, and national parks, and increas-ingly, through the countless digital games and resources available online. In both formal and informal science education, it is nec-essary to simplify concepts to meet the needs of the learners. But making science accessible does not mean dumbing it down. In this respect, Lynn Margulis was particularly skilled. Even when she was addressing an audience made up of specialists her lectures were easy to understand. Lynn visited most of our museums in Spain. In fact, as explained in other contributions in this book, she actively partici-pated in the preparation of exhibitions related to the origin of life, contributing her ideas about how the information to be conveyed could be presented in the most broadly comprehensible way possible.

Good science communicators will employ clear and direct lan-guage, avoiding the use of technical jargon. Even when explaining highly specialized concepts, they will translate complex science into everyday language in order to make it comprehensible to and ac-cessible by a wider general audience. They value the importance of storytelling and are able to craft accounts that explain science with flare and with heart, in a way that relates directly to the audience. Passion, imaginative verbal skills, and creative writing are vital to effective science communication.

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“Life on earth is such a good story you cannot afford to miss the beginning. [...] Beneath our superficial differences we are all of us walking communities of bacteria. The world shimmers, a pointillist landscape made of tiny living beings.” Lynn narrates in her insight-ful and beautifully written chronicle of evolution, Microcosmos. She’s got our attention. Her words, her enthusiasm, have lit up our brain. And now, all we want to do is to continue reading, with close atten-tion, the rest of story she is about to tell. 3