Frontiers of Australian Science Popularisation

Abstract:: Frontiers of Science, an internationally syndicated Australian comic strip, was one of the most-read science popularisations of the 1960s and 70s. In this project, we examine the ways in which this 'pop science' success story created markets and publics for 'big science'. Our analysis explores how Australian innovation was positioned in a rapidly globalizing scientific context. This research demonstrates the dynamics between education and entertainment, image and text, reason and imagination, fact and fiction, and popular and professional science. We examine this strip as a node in a network of popularisations that frame urgent scientific questions such as climate change, space exploration, and overpopulation.
Grant type:: ARC Discovery Projects
Funded by:: Australian Research Council

The University of Queensland