ABSTRACT
Communicating science means not just talking about it, but reading and writing about it too. Ideas that are written down are less likely to be as tentative and exploratory as those discussed verbally. If they are recorded they can be re-visited and reflected upon in the light of new experience. It is through the more permanent forms of communication that the scientific community externalizes and shares knowledge, not only among scientists, but also with society as a whole. Communicating science to society has perhaps not been something that scientists have done well, and scientific ideas have not been made sufficiently accessible to the public. Understanding what has been written about science, and being able to write about it, is an important part of a science education.
