Dr. Saša Ceci talked about "Who needs this popularization of science'"

October 2, 2019

On October 1, 2019, students taking Scientific Inquiries in Environmental Sciences class at the Dubrovnik campus, as well as all others who wanted to join the, had a unique opportunity to listen to Dr. Saša Ceci, a part-time physicist at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, one of the authors and presenters of the HRT's scientific show Third Element, Vice President of the Croatian Physical Society and the author of the book Blesimeter, among other things. Dr. Ceci engaged students in a very intriguing topic: "Who needs this popularization of science".

"Scientists usually perceive popularization of science in two ways - as an entertainment or as a hassle. Usually it is fun to demonstrate some attractive experiments to kids from primary schools. And all of us feel nauseous when we have to showcase our research in a simplified manner in order for the media or general public to understand it. However, many skills from popularization of science can have a big impact on our scientific research, on being more successful in publishing research in prestigious magazines, as well as better perception of our scientific ideas and results among our colleagues. If we research something very important and challenging, we want others to know it, to recognize it and to understand it. Anyone can simplify a certain concept, but not anyone can pull out its core and cover all key aspects in a way that is understandable to all - this calls for a certain skill. A skill we gain by doing popularization of science in the right way. The popularization of science is important for all modern societies and this is what I explain in my lecture", commented Dr. Ceci.

More about Dr. Saša Ceci:

Dr. Saša Ceci is a part-time physicist at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, one of the authors and presenters of the HRT scientific show Third Element, Vice President of the Croatian Physical Society, author of the Blesimeter (and book of the same name) blog on the Jutarnji List portal, one of the organizers and presenters of Zagreb Skeptics in the Pub From the very beginning, he has been a Facebook physics popularizer, member of the Little Council of the Union of Sciences, and editor of several elementary school textbooks in physics. In addition, he occasionally teaches at the University of Zagreb. He is married and has two children, and in his spare time he likes to play guitar (which does not mean he can play guitar).