Science on the Air

“This is an important, mind-opening book, astutely researched and keenly written. It traces the early blossoming and later withering of science broadcasting from the 1920s onward, entwined with the then marvelous new media of radio and TV. That saga offers lessons of value today, early in the new era of omniscient Cybermedia.”—Dudley R. Herschbach, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Professor of Science at Harvard University, and Chairman of the Board of the Society for Science & the Public

“From old-time radio to the early days of television, scientists and their promoters struggled to find a place for science on the airwaves. In Science on the Air, Marcel LaFollette brings to life the ephemeral world of radio and television and offers a compelling look into how the demands of entertainment, the need for corporate sponsors, and changing cultural and political values shaped the content, format, and programming of science for generations of American listeners and viewers.”—Gregg Mitman, author of Reel Nature: America’s Romance with Wildlife on Film

“The public is notoriously ill-informed about the science that governs so much of our lives. In this thoroughly researched study of science popularization in the age of radio, LaFollette uncovers the obstacles raised by broadcast networks, by the nature of mass media, and by scientists themselves. The lessons are as relevant today as ever, and the book deserves to be widely read.”—Spencer Weart, Director, Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics

“Ah, the exquisite tensions that haunt public voices for technology or science—simplicity versus accuracy, showmanship versus honesty, money versus ideals. LaFollette reveals these tensions by placing us among the first generation of on-air educators. Today, as new media turn about to lay claim on twenty-first-century schoolrooms, we have much to learn from this unexpected book.”—John H. Lienhard, University of Houston, author of the book and host of the radio program The Engines of Our Ingenuity