Rehabilitation Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, Division of Medical Sciences and Centre for Biomedical Research, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Adv Physiol Educ. 2011 Mar;35(1):1-4. doi: 10.1152/advan.00120.2010.
Communicating physiology to the general public and popularizing science can be tremendously rewarding activities. Providing relevant and compelling points of linkage, however, between the scientific experiences and the interests of the general public can be challenging. One avenue for popularizing science is to link scientific concepts to images, personalities, and icons in popular culture. Currently, comic book superhero movies and television shows are extremely popular, and Batman was used as the vehicle for popularizing concepts of exercise science, neuroscience, and physiology in my recent book, Becoming Batman: the Possibility of a Superhero. The objective of this book was to bring scientific understanding to the broader public by using the physical image and impression everyone has of Batman and his abilities and then connecting this to the underlying science. The objective of this article is to share some of the details of the process and the positive and negative outcomes of using such an approach with other academics who may be interested in similar activities. It is my goal that by sharing this experience I may stimulate like-minded readers to initiate their own similar projects and to also be emboldened to try and integrate popular culture touchstones in their own teaching practice.
向公众传播生理学知识和普及科学是非常有意义的活动。然而，要在科学经验和公众兴趣之间找到相关且引人注目的联系可能具有挑战性。普及科学的一个途径是将科学概念与流行文化中的图像、人物和偶像联系起来。目前，超级英雄漫画电影和电视剧非常受欢迎，我最近的一本书《成为蝙蝠侠：超级英雄的可能性》（Becoming Batman: the Possibility of a Superhero）利用蝙蝠侠的形象和大家对他的能力的印象，将运动科学、神经科学和生理学的概念普及给更广泛的公众。本书的目的是通过使用每个人对蝙蝠侠及其能力的物理形象和印象，并将其与基础科学联系起来，将科学理解带给更广泛的公众。本文的目的是与其他可能对类似活动感兴趣的学者分享使用这种方法的一些细节以及积极和消极的结果。我的目标是通过分享这个经验，激发有类似想法的读者启动自己的类似项目，并鼓励他们尝试将流行文化的标志性元素融入自己的教学实践中。
