Fan To Pro - The Blog of Professional Geekery

Interview with Caitlin Ashberry of Mad Science

I come to you today to share a tale of science literacy, educational programming, and exploding goo.  Welcome to the world of Mad Science, a company that teaches kids in schools and summer camps about physics and chemistry by way of theatrical presentations.  I interview a presenter, Caitlin Ashberry, or as she is known at Mad Science, "Katie Kaboom."

A Perfectly Progeeky Society

I was pondering that eternal question, "what is the perfect progeek society?" ...and I realized, we're not too far off.  With things like Lulu and YouTube, there is very little standing in the way between a progeek and their audience.  However, I believe that today’s world places a disproportionate value on immediate financial value, which makes everything else undervalued.  For example, we don’t care about science or technology as much as we should, because as important as it is, it is behind the scenes and therefore doesn’t mean much to the world unless it is directly tied to a top-earning product or company.  And as for the arts - don’t get me started!

One Small Step For Fans...

Astronaut Alan Bean was the fourth person ever to walk on the moon, but that’s not the end of the story.  Well, if it was, that would be way too short a story.

While his journey to the moon as part of the Apollo 12 mission was doubtlessly the zenith of his career, he didn’t stop there.  In 1981, he retired from being an astronaut and pursued painting as... not quite a career, and not quite a hobby.  Alan Bean is a Progeek From Space.

Our passions can morph over time, taking sometimes radically different forms, but at their core, they remain the same.  Despite the flying leap between moonwalks and brushstrokes, Bean’s art reflects his previous achievements.  He specializes in lunar landscapes and actually incorporates real moon dust into his paintings.  Real moon dust!  How cool is that?

Beyond being a really neat story, it offers up some questions that all progeeks should ask themselves.

1. What is my “going to the moon?”
In other words, what goal of yours out-and-out tops all the others?  What’s the thing you want to be remembered for?  This serves as a reminder that a career is a long term string of goals all put together.  A career is a lifestyle.  So what is the super-epic-awesome achievement you want to reach through that lifestyle?  How do your daily choices support it? 

2. What is my overarching theme and what connects me to it?
In Alan Bean’s case, his theme is exploration (of space and of things artistic) and his connection is the Apollo 12 Mission (both being on it and painting pictures of it).  Your theme might be compassion, communication, mediation, discovery, leadership... Give it some thought and then ask yourself what you’re involved with that conveys your theme.  What do you do every day, year after year (or what would you like to be doing) that gets you into your theme?  What is your connection to where you’ve always wanted to be?

It’s all about making sure that the little things in your life are building towards the big things.  After all, super-epic-awesome accomplishments are really just the culmination of many years of dedication and hard work.  So set your trajectory for a fulfilling life, and always remember to shoot for the moon.

Late Breaking Geekery: CNN changes science coverage

CNN is shuttering it's science news desk.  CNN maintains that this is tactical, merging science coverage into other coverage, and it has nothing to do with the economy.

Considering all the bad news in publishing and news, I can't say I believe that's the entire story (I could see it being one of many tactical decisions to cope with changes).  I'll see what CNN does next.

However as us geeks know, science is an area that doesn't get nearly enough good coverage - my concern is that science coverage will suffer at CNN and if anyone else follows suit, elsewhere.  I get better science news from io9 than some news sources.

Hopefully being fully integrated will give science coverage better leverage at CNN, being integrated into general coverage, but I can't say I'm hopeful.  Science isn't always a snappy, easy sell or story, unless something blows up, kills you, or involves some titillating aspect.  Admittedly watching the news meltdown lately could have made me  . . . well, more cynical.

But since I always look for what's next, this may be a chance for other science publications and news channels to step up to the plate, do more, or at least raise cain about science coverage.  If anything else news organizations are desperate to stay afloat, so any pressure may get results.

- Steve