Science 6 May 2011:
Vol. 332 no. 6030 p. 665
DOI: 10.1126/science.1205130
Lab Coats in Hollywood Science, Scientists, and Cinema by David A. Kirby MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2011. 279 pp. $27.95, £20.95. ISBN 9780262014786.
Lang's Woman in the Moon is one of the many examples of potential tensions between science and fiction that David Kirby discusses in Lab Coats in Hollywood. It illustrates a useful rubric for science-versus-art decision-making that he sets up, one I'll be applying in my own consulting work in the future. Kirby (whose work at the University of Manchester centers on science communication) defines “public science” as the kind of science that the majority of the public is likely to know. “Expert science” involves facts that, if disregarded, only provoke irate letters from people like readers of Science. “Folk science” is science that people think is true but isn't. Lastly, “unsettled science” covers the vast area where science is either silent or has not reached consensus.
Perhaps the most intriguing point Kirby makes is that science consultants should choose their battles more wisely than they have in the past. He suggests focusing less on transgressions of scientific accuracy and more on the cultural meanings of science conveyed by the work. For those of us wanting to work with story makers to bring those dreams into cinematic reality, Lab Coats in Hollywood is an invaluable guide for how to do it with the right measure of scientific validity. For movie-lovers everywhere, it provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how art and science meet in producing motion pictures we find delightful.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
