Science Documentaries

Any assessment of the contemporary public engagement with science and technology requires knowledge of the specific circumstances directing the connection between science and image (documentary, illustration, film). In recent years, scientific visualization has become an important tool for scientists in all disciplines. However, there is no correspondence between the increased importance of visual displays in science and the little research in this area. The analysis of the communication of science has been mainly centered on the written (text-based) message. This imbalance may be due to the fact that methods for analyzing verbal materials are more developed than those for analyzing images. This lack of research can cause problems at multiple levels—from the production of less-quality audiovisual components to the development of misconceptions in audiences. An examination of the specificities of how science, technology, and medicine have been presented to the public in the form of the moving picture, as well as the techniques employed to do so effectively, may make an important contribution to illustrating different mediation processes of science communication.

Television is probably the largest source of science information for the general public. However, TV's images are a lot more than an innocent transmission of scientific achievement into the public domain. Therefore, how science is presented is not merely a matter of an aesthetic and creative touch. A few studies of science on television have been done. However, such studies tend focus on specific programs or were mainly developed before the diffusion of cable TV. In this context, and because documentary is the genre that shows more popularity with audiences, it should be interesting to develop a way of monitoring those programs and examining how they mediate science.