Some of the nation's best scientific minds are overseeing an experiment that could convince Americans . . . that scientists aren't so nerdy.
With $100,000 in federal grants from the National Science Foundation and the Energy Department, a group of scientists has commissioned the writing of a prime-time TV drama to reach the science-illiterate through the boob tube. They hope it will not only impart information but do for scientists what "ER" does for doctors.
"If you ask [some people] to draw scientists, they draw a nerdy-looking person with glasses and a lab coat holding a test tube," says Hyman Field, the science-literacy expert who cleared the NSF grant.
So the TV scientists wouldn't be stereotypical geeks. They would have lives outside the lab--and romances.
In addition, each episode would teach viewers something about science, but would "have this so fiendishly, cleverly embedded in the story that [viewers'] education comes as a surprise to them," says Leon Lederman, a Nobel laureate in physics who helped lead the project.
Television-documentary writer Adrian Malone recently completed a story outline with plots that seem as far-fetched as some from "The X-Files," Fox TV's science-fiction detective show, but are rooted in real-life research.
The action revolves around a corporate-funded research institute named--like the series--"GRALE," for General Research At the Leading Edge. In the proposed pilot, the institute ponders whether to pursue cell research that could prolong lifespans to 120 years and a graduate student balks at a high-energy physics experiment that could destroy the universe.
Is there really that much drama in the daily life of scientists? "There are many such incidents," says Dr. Lederman, "though not as many as we'll show."
Of course, this series may never make it to the small screen. The scientists are shopping it to producers and networks, but it has already been turned down by "X-Files" creator Chris Carter and Steven Bochco of "NYPD Blue" fame.
And even given a chance to change their image, some scientists may say "this isn't something any upstanding bench scientist could get involved with," says Daryl Chubin, a science-agency administrator. "But it's the same people complaining that kids aren't coming to their disciplines and aren't as good as they used to be."
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Barbara Rosewicz is a staff reporter of The Wall Street Journal. Reprinted from The Wall Street Journal, March 20, 1996. Copyright 1996 The DowJones Company.