Toss GASCOIGNE, Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University, Australia
Luisa MASSARANI, Brazilian National Institute of Public Communication of Science and Technology, Brazil
Jenni METCALFE, Econnect Communication, Australia
Xuan LIU, China Research Institute for Science Popularization (CRISP), China
Bernard SCHIELE, Interuniversity Research Centre on Science and Technology, University of Quebec, Canada
Bernard SCHIELE, Interuniversity Research Centre on Science and Technology, University of Quebec, Canada
Joan LEACH, Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University, Australia
In September 2020, a new book on the evolution of science communication was published. Communicating Science. A Global Perspective has collected accounts of how modern science communication has developed in 39 countries.
The collection charts the emergence of modern science communication internationally. It is the first volume to map investment around the globe in science centres, university courses and research, publications and conferences as well as tell the national stories of science communication.
All cultures and regions are represented. Eleven rank outside the top hundred in per capita wealth, and five are Muslim-majority countries. Five are from Africa, seven from the Americas, 11 from Asia and the rest from Europe and Australasia. For some countries, this is the first time that their science communication story has been told.
How did it all begin? How has development varied from one country to another? What motivated governments, institutions and people to see science communication as an answer to questions of the social place of science?
Authors were asked to complete a timeline, to indicate when key events occurred in their country. Examples are: