Tag Archives: Celebrities and Science 2013 list

Sense about Science and their 2013 Science and Celebrities list

I’m delighted to receive information from groups that I don’t usually hear from about the topics I cover on this blog,, which is a long way of saying I got a notice from a UK-based group called,Sense about Science regarding their annual list of celebrities who have committed to erroneous ‘scientific’ thinking.  The good news is that there isn’t a list for 2013 but Sense about Science does have a few comments, from the Celebrities and Science 2013 annual publication,

We decided not to run the review this year because of some positive changes. At Sense About Science we like change. That’s what we exist for so in every part of our work we look for the moment when we are not needed and can move to other things.

We published the Celebrities and Science review for seven years. Lighthearted as they often were, the reviews have been more valuable than weever looked for them to be…

Celebrity claims circulate well beyond traditional newspaper readership; some go global. The review didn’t quite match them but it drew some of the same audience, and it went global too. By 2011 we saw well over 200 reports before we stopped counting.

Celebrities took notice. Well, agents, which is what matters. Every year we offered help and reminded people that it was just a phone call away. And increasingly they have used it, including people who were named in early reviews. And that is one of the things that has changed. Not only are scientists a bit more plentiful in the public eye but some actors, comedians, celebrity chefs, TV stars, musicians and magicians have sought evidence and made a point of its importance to their followers. We have called on our database of specialists and research bodies to respond to requests for advice and some of those relationships now continue without our input. Our efforts aren’t alone. Many charities with celebrity patrons make a point of briefing them well – see the lovely comment below from Gaby Roslin for Breakthrough Breast Cancer. We started commenting on these better examples a few years ago, and that section of the review has grown each year. In fact if we had run the review this year the good examples would have been about equal with the bad.

This publication includes a précis of the previously published lists and more. As for the UK-based issuing organization, Sense about Science, here’s more from their About us page,

We are a charitable trust that equips people to make sense of scientific and medical claims in public discussion.

With a database of over 6,000 scientists, from Nobel prize winners to postdocs and PhD students, we work in partnership with scientific bodies, research publishers, policy makers, the public and the media, to change public discussions about science and evidence. Through award-winning public campaigns, we share the tools of scientific thinking and scrutiny. Our growing international Voice of Young Science network engages hundreds of early career researchers in public debates about research and evidence. Our activities and publications are used and shaped by community groups, civic bodies, patient organisations, information services, writers, publishers, educators, health services and many others.

People look to us to:

  • Make sense of science and evidence
  • Provide quick help and advice
  • Make a fuss about things that are wrong
  • Represent the public interest in sound science
  • Activate networks of scientists and others in defence of evidence

Our ethos:

  • We help people make sense of current discussions rather than taking them back to school
  • We stand up for scientific inquiry, free from stigma, intimidation, hysteria or censorship
  • We want everyone, whatever their experience, to stand up for evidence in public life

I last mentioned Sense about Science in a Feb. 19, 2013 posting regarding their Voice of Young Science project and its expansion from the UK into the US.