Though best known for an acting career spanning many decades, in recent years Alan Alda has dedicated his time toward improving the way scientists and medical professionals communicate with the people they seek to help, according to an interview with NPR.
In his new book, If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? (Random House 2017), Mr. Alda examines the gap between scientific knowledge and popular understanding of scientific ideas. Mr. Alda believes that many of the public's fears and misconceptions come from poor communication of ideas.
The inspiration for the book came from an experience Mr. Alda had right before a dental surgery, where an irritable dentist refused to define a procedure he was about to perform that ended up having unexpected consequences. He believes the confusion could have been avoided if the dentist was more comfortable communicating his ideas in plain language.
Mr. Alda has also tackled this issue with the creation of the Alda-Kavli Learning Center for Science Communication at SUNY-Stony Brook, which seeks to equip scientific professionals with improved communication skills.
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