Knowra Popular science Popular science Popular science communicates scientific ideas and discoveries to a general audience, using accessible language and explanations without requiring specialist knowledge.
Science communication : The practice and study of communicating scientific knowledge among researchers, institutions, and public audiences. Popular science is one public-facing form within this broader communication practice.
Analogy : A comparison that explains one thing through its resemblance to another. Popular science uses analogies to make unfamiliar processes easier to picture.
Carl Sagan : An American astronomer and science communicator known for research on planetary science and the television series Cosmos. His books and broadcasts made astronomy and scientific reasoning accessible to large audiences.
Science fiction : A form of speculative fiction that explores imagined worlds and technologies shaped by scientific or technological ideas. Unlike popular science, it invents possibilities rather than explaining established evidence.
Science journalism : Journalism that reports on scientific research, institutions, and their social implications. It often delivers popular science through reporting on current research.
Scientific model : A simplified representation of a system used to describe, explain, or predict its behavior. Models let writers explain complex systems while making simplifications visible.
Stephen Jay Gould : An American paleontologist and evolutionary biologist who wrote influential essays and books for general audiences. His essays connected evolutionary biology with history, culture, and the interpretation of evidence.
Pseudoscience : Claims or practices presented as scientific but lacking reliable methods or support from evidence. Popular science can be confused with pseudoscience when persuasive presentation outruns evidential standards.
Scientific literacy : The knowledge and skills needed to understand scientific ideas and use them in everyday and civic decisions. Popular science can support public understanding, though reading it alone does not ensure literacy.
Metaphor : A figure of speech that describes one thing in terms of another. Metaphors create vivid explanations but can also imply misleading scientific mechanisms.
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