Jerry Zucker on scientists
"[Scientists] are just like you and me except they got perfect scores on their SATs."
- Jerry Zucker, quoted in Science
So joked the famous Hollywood director at the recent gala launch of Science and Entertainment Exchange (SEE), a new venture from the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS). SEE aims to bring together scientists with the professionals involved in writing, producing and directing films and TV shows, with the ultimate aim of getting better and more accurate science onto our screens.
SEE was born when Zucker and his producer wife Janet, already embroiled in lobbying for California's stem cell research community, met NAS's president Ralph Cicerone and hatched the plan. With an initial budget of nearly half a million US dollars, the group aims to hold 'salons' where Hollywood moguls and coal-face toilers alike can learn about new advances and discuss them with the scientists involved.
You can read more about SEE in Science if you have a subscription, or you can take a look at SEE's website.