‘Science in Hollywood’ by Carolyn Porco, AAI 2009
Carolyn Porco examines how science and scientists are portrayed in the film industry. She also explains how she interprets some of the stunning imagery taken by the Cassini mission to Saturn and the outer planets, which she oversees. Download amazing Cassini images at: ciclops.org Find Cassini-inspired Star Trek Imagery — the USS Enterprise and Saturn — at diamondskyproductions.com Carolyn @ Twitter: twitter.com Carolyn @ Facebook: www.facebook.com Download Quicktime version (720p …
Most PEOPLE, I find, base their views on emotions not logic.
most woman, i find, base their veiws on emotions not logic.
most scientists worth their salt would say something like “its seems highly improbable that a god exists” but never “i know”. you only get 100% certainties in mathmatics, all the other disciplines of science are left open for future corrections. such as if we discovered a physical material that did not conform to the laws of gravity. the theory would no longer be ALL objects attract each other. it would be most matter attracts, we know that levitanium does not.
30:20 summarize it all. Great talk.
We need to instill in our young daughters that science and technology are not exclusive to the male race just like make up and fashion and looking pretty is not exclusive to women, I mean look at the irony of this, our little girls spend their time, mind power and energy on looking pretty and who ends up getting rich & famous in fashion,
& beauty industry? okay there’s Vera Wang, Donna Karan & Donnatella but Kors, Lauren, Max Factor, & the majority of the couture houses in Paris is by men,
More and more women are entering universities and going onto all sort of wonderful scientific and leadership graduate colleges
More women than men these days in North America! Ahhh progress.
@tomwash1 I love the ending too. I don’t Richard Dawkins was being over enthusiastic when he said that “we have found the female Carl Sagan” so much in agreement.
Anyone could be excused for thinking that those in power actually want the general population to remain stupid. Loved the end of the video, truly touching, thanks so much.
@dwdeclare Geez, Hollywood movies are more accesible than those “great documentaries” to young minds duhhh, get it?
there are some great documentaries on space exploration and evolutionary biology out there to educate people about what is known about life and our place in the cosmos.
hollywood is about fantasy and distraction (and making money). it is not a medium for providing ethical and scientific instruction to impressionable movie goers or anyone else for that matter and i am not convinced that it ought to be.
@dwdeclare it’s not about being dissuaded by a dopey movie, all she’s asking is that Hollywood do a better job in promoting science so young impressionable movie goers who are thinking of a life in the sciences can take with them a positive view of what it’s like to be a scientist. Can you mention other movies other than Star Trek vs. the evil Scientists movies? I rest my case.
We need more women in science and technology, maybe we’re too busy raising boys to men scientist.
Goodness, she is so hot.
The end part was so touching too.
i’m not sure i necessarily agree with dr. wolfgang von porco’s assessment of hollywood’s negative portrayal of scientists and the harmful impact that would have on up and coming young scientists.
firstly, two words…star trek…gene roddenberry and his gang of renown portrayed science and scientists favorably.
secondly, if you’re really interested in a career in science whether biology, astronomy or physics are you really going to be dissuaded because of some dopey hollywood movie?
Excellent lecture. Agree about the points on religion, particularly liked the comparison to ethnicity.
wonderful wonderful wonderful
Good stuff, but “nature herself?” Please, let’s not personify nature, and divide people further.
I’ve had a huge crush on Carolyn Porco for years.
His new book The Greatest Show on Earth is Just as good if not more exciting to read. If you havn`t got it yet you`ve got to go and get it today.
peteq1972 – to discuss nothing (nothingness) makes it something. To discuss a position, makes it something, not nothing. Can you defend a position with nothing? I lack the belief in everything I don’t know but I do not know what I don’t know so my position is a belief that what I don’t know, does not exist. But if I believe it to exist, than, for me, it does exist. Atheism is no different than any other belief and the brain treats it as such!!
TT: Atheism is a position. If a person doesn`t believe in gods or such of any kind, there has to be a word for that position/stance they take. simple.
TodaysThought:
If i said i believe in Faries, or i said to you i just saw Faries at the bottom of my garden, by your logic and way of thinking that means thats true and you now have to disprove Faries to show me it`s not true. If you can`t do that, then Faries exist. That is how you`re thinking.
i’ve read harris, dawkin’s and hitchen’s atheist books, and consider the latter the most wide-ranging, convincing argument (christopher hitchens, ‘god is not great’). i would also say: watch at least the first 10 mins of this video again, ms porco explains why ‘knowing’ whether god exists or not is impossible, and so critically examining all beliefs, continually, is vital.
that’s because they only watched the first minute of the video ;J