No. 113/2021

ety,” says Martin Carrier, the philosopher of science from Bielefeld University. “Thanks to research, quick solutions have been found to many problems. So, it’s difficult to keep your expectations realistic about what science can achieve.” And that was precisely the case when the entire world sud- denly felt at a loss as to what to do about a novel virus, and even science couldn’t immediately come up with a magic solution. Martin Carrier’s thoughts return to the past, and he grins. “Do you know the anecdote about Woodrow Wilson?” he asks. During the First World War, the US president appointed a physicist to his consultative board, justifying the choice with the legendary words “in case we have to calculate something out.” This historical sen- tence embodies the contempt that was felt for science, says Carrier. How very different the situation is today, despite occasional bouts of science scepticism. “I think it’s a posi- tive signal that science gets reactions from society.” In the last resort, it proves that it is perceived as relevant. Source for all figures: Science communication in Germany: results of a survey of 5,688 researchers at German universities and non-university research institutions conducted by the Impact Unit of Wissenschaft im Dialog, the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies, and the National Institute for Science Communication. 14 FIGURE 6 What is your personal opinion about the relationship between science and the media? Scientists appearing in the media strengthen science as a whole. Researchers take too much notice of media expectations. Regularly appearing as a public expert often means having little time for one’s own research. The media focus on individual scientists is bad for the cohesion of science as a whole. I think my specialist field is well represented in the media. 7 18 10 4 53 12 5 23 19 41 3 19 11 26 10 43 30 5 45 17 21 5 13 46 Figures in percent. Discrepancies in totals caused by rounding. (n ≥ 4,983) completely disagree tend to disagree tend to agree completely agree cannot judge FOCUS 20 HUMBOLDT KOSMOS 113/2021 Researchers develop SUSTAINABLE satellite made of wood