Scientific Accuracy In The Movies

I've posted several of this type of topic before. Still, this is another news report that examines scientific accuracy in the movies. Even if you don't learn anything new, it is still an entertaining read.

The article describes another important aspect of the "scientific accuracy", as in the movies' representation of scientists.

Cinematic shenanigans also don't do much for the public image of scientists, who are frequently portrayed as a. techno-geeks with lousy people skills, b. chronic grumps, c. power-hungry megalomaniacs or d. all of the above and worse.

Seth Shostak, senior astronomer for the SETI Institute, which scans the heavens for evidence of intelligent life, complained in a LiveScience report that “real scientists don't describe an object entering the solar system as 'notable for the fact that it was not moving in an asteroidal ellipse but moving at nearly three times 10 to the seventh meters per second.' More likely, they would say that there was 'a goddamned rock headed our way!'”

Efthimiou agreed: “The stereotyping of scientists is a problem. In the past, movies showed scientists creating problems but also scientists who came forward to solve them. These days (in the movies), scientists are creating problems, but they cannot solve them. They are closed-minded; a solution can come only from a layman who can think outside the box.

“By creating an environment of anti-scientism, younger people do not want to consider science as a possible career. And the United States is losing its dominant status (in science).”

Zz.