VUB professor wants you to know that physics isn’t scary
The Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium has honoured Henri Eisendrath with a lifetime achievement award for his work on improving the general public’s understanding of physics
Bringing science to the people
“If I look back on how science was taught in the early days of my career, I feel slightly embarrassed,” he says. “I remember teaching physics to students from the medical and biomedical departments in the 1970s. Not one of them thought about physics as something useful to them.”
And yet, he continues, many insights from physics found their way to medical science. “At the time, I tried to convince my colleagues of the need to improve this, but without much result. Back then, there was no such thing as science communication.”
In the decades since, Eisendrath (pictured) has worked tirelessly on bridging the gap between the scientific community and the general public. He has helped organise several exhibitions on physics and sciences in general, hosted science competitions and worked on educating teachers.
In the right direction
Many things have changed for the better, he says, but there is still a lot of work to be done. “If I look at our society’s scientific literacy, I realise we are not there yet. Even today, a lot of students are often not convinced of the necessity of certain science courses that are not directly related to their field of study. There are many barriers between the different branches of science. Bridging these fields remains a challenge.”
There is more awareness in the academic world about the importance of communication, but other areas are lacking. Teacher training, for one, has plenty of room for improvement, says Eisendrath. “Being a teacher is more than just talking about your field of study. It is equally important to have the students realise how essential science is in understanding how our world works.”
Our knowledge of science has grown exponentially within the last century, but the general public is not fully aware of the extent of it
Now more than ever, he adds, it is necessary to bring science to larger audience. “Our knowledge of science has grown exponentially within the last century, but the general public is not fully aware of the extent of it.”
At the same time, he continues, “science plays an important role in solving the problems we’re faced with, like environmental degradation, climate change and food issues. So a deeper understanding of what science has to offer is indispensable.”
There is, however, a growing interest in science, Eisendrath says. “The media is paying more attention to it, and that’s important because the impact of science on society goes hand in hand with the explosion of knowledge. Scientific innovations find their way into our daily lives much faster than ever before.”
Together with filmmaker Vincent Langouche, Eisendrath has just finished the new documentary Quantum Revolution, which science teachers will be able to use in the classroom.
Eisendrath will receive VUB’s Lifetime Achievement Award on 14 November.
Free University of Brussels (VUB)
Master’s programmes offered
million euros in research budget in 2010
students in 2011-2012 academic year
- Free University of Brussels
- Study in Flanders
- Universitaire Associatie Brussel
