Hi Frank, at the risk of going off topic for this list there are
several reasons for targeting non-specialists. Lindsay mentioned
funding agencies to which I would add below.
At the Open University we have a general background interest in this
as we do not have formal requirements for our courses. We also have
goals including widening participation (to higher degrees) to which
our VCs often say that we are very proud to: " break the insidious
link between exclusivity and excellence".
There's also a related interest in promoting the public understanding
of science which motivates us to develop BBC science content.
Obviously, others do this too e.g. there's the Carl Sagan Award for
Public Understanding of Science and the University of Oxford has a
Chair in this. I also have a requirement as I'm asked to give more and
more talks to non-technical audiences.
John
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