The myriad scientific findings in the last decade have stimulated and increased media coverage, but the lament among scientists about the media, says Nobel laureate Sir Harold W. Kroto, is the same: "They just don't get it right." More than seven years ago, Kroto decided to do something about filling the gap.
"Most of the decisions about what science is shown on television are made by nonscientists who are more interested in form than content. There is an assumption there that people can assess the place and importance of scientific culture without understanding it. And that is a disturbing aberration," Kroto asserts.
Kroto reaches into his briefcase, pulls out a laptop, and sets it on the table at a popular beachside cafe in Santa Barbara, Calif. He finds a file on his desktop and clicks. A C-SPAN videoclip of U.S. Sen. Trent Lott speaking before a group of students begins ...
