New-look science journal aims to draw Singapore public

Ben Nadarajan Straits Times 23 Oct 10;

THE scientific journal of the Singapore National Academy of Science has been given a facelift as scientists aim to make their work more understandable and appealing to the public.

The journal, known as Cosmos, will be published twice a year and include review articles, news and feature pieces, as well as photographs and other visuals to make it more palatable.

For the first time, it will also be sold to the public.

For now, it is available at bookstores in the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University at $9.90.

The theme for the first issue is ecology and features articles on diverse alien flora and fauna species in Singapore.

It also features the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, one of the earliest natural history museums in South-east Asia.

One of the editors of the new issue, Assistant Professor Darren Yeo from NUS' department of biological science, said: 'This volume represents one of the first concerted efforts to document non-native species in Singapore.

'Knowing what non-native species are present locally is an important step towards understanding the potential impact they might have.'

Subsequent issues will feature themes from other science disciplines such as chemistry and physics.

Cosmos editor-in-chief Andrew Wee, who is the dean of NUS' science faculty, said: 'The intention is not to dumb it down, but to make it more attractive and more appealing to a wider audience.'

It will have review articles that are more accessible to the public.

The journal, which previously had five issues since 2005, will also be sent to several government agencies to hopefully influence policies.

Professor Wee said it was a 'huge challenge' bridging the gulf between scientists and the public.

He said: 'We need to communicate what we do in order to get the support of the public or Government.'

Marine biologist Leo Tan, who is the president of the academy, said Cosmos used to be 'so erudite'.

'The joke among us was that the only people who read the articles were the person who wrote it, the reviewer and the editor.'

Prof Tan, who is also director of special projects at NUS, said many scientists still lack a background in social sciences.

'It is important to be able to express ourselves to the public... that is one of the main reasons why scientists always sound so mysterious, because no one outside of our community knows what they mean,' he said.

'Effective communication of anything is vital in this day and age.'

Prof Tan said the idea behind the revamp was to rally the scientific community in Singapore to push the relevance of science to the public.

'If you can't write, get someone else to do it for you,' Prof Tan quipped, adding that it was necessary to change the image of scientists being 'boffins in white coats creating havoc for the world'.

Science, he added, is becoming more complicated, so it is even more important for scientists to write in an understandable way.

He said: 'Scientists must do research, and unless it can go beyond the 20 to 30 people who read the article, it's useless.'