Those of us who live in this amazing world of science
and engineering have got to pay more attention
how to speak to the public.
I am convinced one approach is to embrace
the value of the visual-- that when we find better
vocabularies to express complicated ideas,
there will be less confusion across the globe about how
to make critical decisions that will affect
our health and our planet, to educate all our cultures on how
to distinguish between opinion and fact.
One approach is to engage the public in our conversations.
And we can do that creating honest, accessible, compelling,
even beautiful images of our research
so that our work will become less intimidating,
where your mother or father will not
be embarrassed to ask questions about the images they
see of your work.
That's part of the philosophy of this course,
in case you didn't notice.
But so much of what we do in our labs is difficult to explain.
So first, here's where I'd like to briefly touch
on the potential of visual metaphors.
For example, you've seen this music box
throughout this course.
I made the image for our book "No Small Matter"
to engage the reader to think about the language
of computation, a binary language, either on or off,
as this music box's clever system works.
It's either one or zero.
Take a good look and think about it.
Here's another one of these metaphors
along the same thinking of explaining binary language.
These are small drinking glasses viewed from above.
The ones filled with red (good shiraz, by the way!)
represent one in this binary system.
The empty glasses represent zero.
Again, for the book, "No Small Matter."
The first row across represents 12 in our everyday number
system.
If we add the second row, 22, the result in the third row
is 34.
12 plus 22 equals 34.
Here's another you've seen before.
We call it etching with light, suggesting
how some surfaces we work with in the laboratory can be etched
with various patterns.
And here, this cascade could suggest
how the flow of electrons change from one energy state
to another.
Here's one I think that works quite well.
These graduation chairs are lined up basically
to guide parents where to sit.
It's a metaphor for something called templated
or guided self assembly.
Just as when DNA replicates itself, each of its strands
guides the distribution of bases for the new strand.
Here's one that I did love making,
but maybe it doesn't quite work enough.
I wanted to show the counterintuiveness
of quantum mechanics.
Now, look at the shadow on the right.
It doesn't make sense, right?
In fact, that square shadow is impossible.
I made it with software.
And so it is with quantum mechanics-- so much
of the quantum phenomena simply just makes no sense at all.
Here's one from the Fermilab which
I thought was quite clever.
Take a guess at what this jelly bean jar is metaphorically
representing.
Take a moment.
And the fact that it's from Fermilab is a big hint.
So here's that information in a pie chart--
of course, more quantitative.
We are seeing the distribution of dark energy, dark matter,
and everything else in the universe.
I think we pay more attention to the jelly bean jar.
Do you?
What do you think?
Now, none of these visual metaphors
work completely on their own.
First, we need some sort of text to help
us look and think about it.
And most important, all metaphors
fall apart at some point.
And that conversation of where they fall apart
can be a powerful place to talk about the science.
I encourage you to start thinking
about creating metaphoric photographs that
teach the non-expert how to start
thinking about various scientific phenomena.
OK.
Let's switch gears and look at just a few
simpler ways to engage the public with our images.
How about using some of your new wonderful images
of your work for cards, or announcements, or posters?
Could be fun thinking about it.
The images you will begin making after this course
will be pretty compelling.
I'm sure of it.
Why not show them off outside the research community?
All I suggest is to think about ways
to incorporate some of your amazing new images
in ways to excite the public.
And who knows?
Someday, you might even get an exhibit
along the Champs-Elysees.
What do you think?