They Might Be Effective Communicators of Science to the Public

     This week I'm reviewing the album “HereComes Science” by They Might Be Giants. For those of you who have not heard of this band, for shame! They've been around for over 20 years and have created tons of great songs, some of which you know, even if you don't know it. More recently, they've taken on the world of children's music with their albums “HereComes The ABCs” and “Here Comes The 123s”. Their latest album in this genre tackles the issue of communicating science with the public by trying to reach young people through music, so let's see how they do.

Track 1 - Science Is Real

     Starting off strong, topics in science (the big bang, DNA, evolution) are contrasted with unicorns, elves, and angels. The poke at religion here is quite subtle, but certainly intentional. However, this isn't meant as a malicious atheistic attack, but rather as a way to show children the proper place for science. Science is used to gain knowledge about the world, whereas the other subjects are entertaining stories from which facts cannot be found.

     They do a decent job approaching the topic of a scientific theory, but ultimately fall short. Yes, a theory is more than a guess, and yes, a theory has survived numerous tests, but no, science cannot be used to prove anything. Theories, no matter how strongly supported, can always be toppled by new information, especially when that information comes to light after new technology has been invented to allow new questions to be asked. Track 10 actually illustrates this point well.

Track 2 - Meet The Elements

     Here we explore some basic chemistry and the idea of how elements combine to make new substances. I think this song would help to take an abstract concept, elements, and make it more tangible to young minds. The tie-in with biology (we're mostly made of four elements) is nice, and the simile with the box of paints simplifies the ideas without completely obscuring them. I could see kids getting excited about checking out the periodic table after memorizing this song. (My understanding of children and music is that songs will be repeated, at their demand, until everyone has memorized them, whether they want to or not.)

Track 3 - I Am A Paleontologist

     Children and creationists are similar in their passion for dinosaurs and lack of critical thinking skills. Fortunately, it's not too late to save our children. This song introduces the idea of form fitting function, which is a basic concept we try to teach at the college level. If today's children are anything like me, they'll be excited to hear the names of dinosaurs in the song, and work hard to learn them. They even included the dinosaur I was most proud to remember as a kid, Pachycephalosaurus! One can only hope that songs like this can spark an interest in pursuing a career in paleontology.

Track 4 - The Bloodmobile

     Fantastic metaphors abound in this song about the circulatory system. Some of my introductory biology students could have benefited from listening to this song instead of (not) studying their notes. We learn about how blood connects everything in the body and is the main form of transportation within us. There's anatomy, physiology, and immunology, and it's all presented in a fun, easily understandable way. I just might shed a tear the day a student tells me she is “pre-med” and was inspired by this song. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Track 5 - Electric Car

     This song is admittedly short on the science, though it does extoll the benefits of electric vehicles. Considering the bad reputation electric cars have had, it's probably worthwhile to make children interested in them early on. They could have incorporated some air pollution science in here to make the song more substantive.

Track 6 - My Brother The Ape

     This song subtly hints at the evolutionary connection between humans and the other great apes. The obvious similarities between us and our closest relatives are highlighted by contrasting our (apparent) lack of similarity with other organisms. This song is surely a response to the early criticisms Darwin met when he first proposed his ideas. The visceral reaction (Hey, I'm no monkey!) is headed off by this song by suggesting that our relatedness is a positive thing that should be celebrated, perhaps with a family reunion.

Track 7 - What Is A Shooting Star?

     This song gets stuck in my head all the time. Astronomers would be proud at how they delicately maneuver through the often-confusing terms used to describe rocks that fly around in our atmosphere. The row-row-row your boat song style is sure to help cement this one in the mind of the listener, and kids brought up on this will feel positively compelled to correct anyone who claims they found a meteor on the ground.

Track 8 - How Many Planets?

     Never mind how many there are, what do the planets sound like? This song teaches kids the order of the major celestial bodies in our solar system, without getting into any details. While it may not seem like science, this is exactly the same material kids will be getting in science class. So why not make a song out of it to make it more interesting? Pluto fans can rejoice in the fact that it is mentioned, though the reality of its status is affirmed in the last lines, where they lump it in with “a bunch of other stuff”. Sorry, Pluto.

Track 9 - Why Does The Sun Shine?

     More astronomy here, this time loaded with facts about our closest star, the Sun. There's a lot of science that went into our understanding of the facts in this song, and it should intrigue any curious kid who listens closely. And hey, even if you aren't listening to the lyrics, you can still jump up and down in your pajamas and scream about the Sun while you rock out.

Track 10 - Why Does The Sun Really Shine?

     While some may view this song as potentially confusing to children, it actually fits perfectly with attempts to teach them about science. In the last song, we learned that the Sun was a “mass of incandescent gas”, but here we are correctly informed that it is a “miasma of incandescent plasma”. Contradictory? Sure, but that's how science works. Before we understood that there was a fourth phase of matter, it made sense to think the Sun was a gas. Science progresses, we learn new things about the world, and our knowledge continues to expand. Hooray for science!

Track 11 - Roy G. Biv

     The visible spectrum of light is something that interests all children, and most of us learn this little trick to remember the order of the colors. This song was perhaps a great chance to introduce the idea of wavelength, photons, and energy, but a decision always has to be made about how much information should be packed into a given song.

Track 12 - Put It To The Test

     The power of science is highlighted here. Although the details of experimental design and the scientific method are not explained, children are encouraged to test claims that may be suspect. Blind belief makes life easy, but that doesn't mean the believer is right. Kids are naturally inquisitive, and anything that can prolong that questioning nature, forcing them to use their brains instead of automatically accepting everything they hear, will be to the benefit of everyone. That is, everyone except for the people who make their living by counting on others believing what they say without (or despite) evidence.

Track 13 - Photosynthesis

     The level of detail into mechanistic processes here is certainly lacking, but we have to remember the goal of this music. We're trying to teach children some science and get them excited about learning more. The electron transport chain doesn't need to feature prominently in a song in order for kids to learn something about plant physiology. To that end, this song succeeds.

Track 14 - Cells

     I've actually seen the music video for this song used in an introductory biology class. It's catchy and effective at summarizing cell theory: all cells come from other cells. Furthermore, we get some neat imagery to describe DNA. I think the greatest benefit of songs like this is to take ideas that people often find abstract and hard to understand (you can't easily see cells or DNA without fancy science stuff), and reduce them to simpler images. It's a good starting point that remains valid even after learning all the gritty details about the subject later in life.

Track 15 - Speed And Velocity

     Much like “What is a shooting star?”, this song focuses on some of the scientific terms that the public often mixes up. Speed and velocity are two different things, and physicists will be upset if you confuse them. The topic is fairly limited, so the lack of substance in this song shouldn't be surprising. I'm not sure anyone would want to listen to the calculus-based derivation of how position, speed, and acceleration are related to one another.

Track 16 - Computer Assisted Design

     I've never used a CAD program, but I know that they are invaluable tools for engineers. That said, there's not a whole lot of science to share about them. This song is mostly filler, and its length reflects that.

Track 17 - Solid Liquid Gas

     The science here is implicit. Instead of singing about the speed with which atoms move around in the different phases of matter, they use the music to do the work. Solids are slow moving, liquids are bubbly and flowing, and gasses are high energy, bounce-off the wall crazy. Kids will be well equipped for science class if they listen to this, especially if they dance along with the music.

Track 18 - Here Comes Science

     Requisite TMBG song about the album name. One does wonder why they made this track 18...

Track 19 - The Ballad Of Davy Crockett (In Outer Space)

     A silly song that's mostly a space adventure. They still manage to introduce some science terms, the fact that sound does not travel in a vacuum, and the issues with traveling at light speed. It could have been used to describe some of the other aspects of being in outer space, but heck, it's the end of the album, and they've already accomplished so much.

     So, are They Might Be Giants effectively communicating science? This semester we've talked a lot about what makes communication effective, and I think this album succeeds overall. The use of music certainly helps, but they also keep the jargon to a minimum and relate the science to everyday life. Humor features prominently as well. To what should their efforts be compared? Your average professor-researcher doesn't even attempt to reach out to an audience for science in the way this band has, I'd argue that They Might Be Giants communicate science to the public more effectively than the scientists themselves.

     Although the format is completely different, I think their efforts are comparable to those made by the authors of the children's books we read a few weeks ago. Not every song (or book) was full of mechanistic explanations, but they all aim to pique interest in science and the natural world. To that end, I think we can mark this album a success for scientific communication. The public is more likely to value science (and scientists) if they are excited about it and appreciate its importance. This album takes a step in the right direction by engaging young minds, and might even help to engage the minds of parents. Here's hoping.