Simple science for children? Where to Go at the Crossroads of Popular Science Reading
2023-03-21
Telling popular science stories, buying popular science books, listening to lectures, and visiting nature museums... Mr. Geng attaches great importance to science education for children. Whenever he has time, he takes them to engage in popular science and expand their knowledge; This year, Xiaotong was in the fourth grade of primary school. She was very fond of reading popular science books, especially astronomy. A few weeks ago, her class held a knowledge competition, and she helped her group win the championship with her rich accumulation at ordinary times; Ph.D. student Liu Fei (pseudonym) focuses on material research and has been a loyal fan of popular science books since childhood. "It is popular science books that have opened the first door to my career choice and development.". In 2022, Beijing Science and Technology Publishing House Co., Ltd. published a total of 124 popular science books, with over 610000 copies; China Translation Publishing House has also launched a large number of popular science books on cutting-edge new knowledge, while paying attention to topics in the history of science and philosophy of science. "The Circle of the Tittletail Snake" was recently selected as the "2022 Capital Popular Science Good Book.". As a window for readers to understand scientific knowledge, popular science plays a crucial role in cultivating personal abilities, promoting the popularization of science and technology, and improving the scientific literacy of the entire population. In June 2021, the State Council issued the "Outline of the Action Plan for the Scientific Quality of the Whole People (2021-2035)"; In August 2022, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the China Association for Science and Technology jointly issued the "14th Five Year Plan" National Science and Technology Popularization Development Plan; In September 2022, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Further Strengthening the Popularization of Science and Technology in the New Era", which constitutes the top-level design of the development pattern of large-scale science popularization in the new era. "Open volume science popularization" data shows that the growth of science popularization is higher than the overall market level, and the proportion of local original works has also increased. However, the problem still exists. From the perspective of reading needs, there are currently more products targeted at children's educational needs and adults' own interests or fragmented needs, while there are fewer "high-end popular science" books targeted at the exploration needs of adult readers. The glory and dreams of popular science books, the ideals and realities of readers, authors, and publishers have come to a crossroads. Science popularization is only for children? Li Jianlong, Ph.D. in theoretical physics and author of popular science, has been working on science communication since he was a doctoral student. To date, he has not only translated popular science books such as "Hidden Reality" and "The Book of the Universe", but also collaborated with painters to launch multiple popular science books in the form of cartoons such as "New Technology Driving: Frontier Science Comics that Children Can Understand.". In his view, the lack of "high-end popular science" books is determined by the market. "Parents will buy popular science books for children, but fewer adults read popular science books.". "The differences in the psychological development characteristics of children and adults have led to this phenomenon." Zhang Yan, a supervisor of Beijing Science and Technology Publishing House Co., Ltd., analyzed that children are always curious about the world that adults are accustomed to, and hope to understand the world through multiple channels; Parents also hope to cultivate their children's scientific thinking through books and help them better explore the world. "Children's curiosity about the world is a rich selection library for publishers.". Shi Jun, a popular science writer and PhD in botany from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has a simple motivation for creating popular science, but his thesis is too
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