GIGO

Promoting New Zealand Science

I've got a rather solid chunk of metal sitting on my desk -- it's a bronze Science and Technology Medal of New Zealand which I recently received for "innovative and effective promotion of a high level of public awareness and understanding of science and technology in New Zealand".

The bulk of that promotion has been through these pages, but I've also been doing radio and television spots on science over the past couple of years. Most of the television work has been with CTV, doing the odd chat show and talkback TV with George Balani.

In the last appearance, George cheerfully waved the medal at the camera and said "Here's Rutherford on this side, one of New Zealand's well-known scientists". I couldn't resist the opportunity -- "Name another!" The normally irrepressible George was at a loss for words.

I mentioned Don Merton of the black robin recovery effort and Sir William Pickering who was head of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. These two must have some public profile for they featured in the recent campaign to put famous New Zealanders on our stamps. I did wonder if NZ Post had struggled to fill the science category, for it was combined with medicine and education to produce 23 candidates, 14 of whom were involved in science (sports had over 80 names).

It would be a shame to see Rutherford take the stamp, as he already has so much recognition, but I suspect that the 90,000 people who voted in the campaign would not be overly familiar with names like Sir Charles Fleming, Percy Smith or Elsa Kidson. There might be some chance for our women scientists, as I know there was money set aside from the Women's Suffrage Centennial funds to produce a book on them (surely it must be due out soon...).

Back to our own patch and I'm pleased to hear that our cartoonist Nick Kim's notoriety has now spread to the international scene. Nick tells me that his work will soon be appearing on T-shirts in the Smithsonian.

I'd hesitate to suggest that the medal and the T-shirts represent fame and fortune, but they do represent a fair amount of fun, and the recognition that we need to have a little more science in our daily lives.

Vicki Hyde is the editor of New Zealand Science Monthly.