Celebrities of Science: Making Science Popular

Carl Sagan in Action

Science needs public faces to tell its fascinating stories. A few scientists dared to step into the TV spotlight to make science accessible to a wide audience (and sometimes gain criticism by their peers for simplifying science too much in return).


I compiled a short list of some of the most popular faces of science on TV:


General Science

• Bill Nye ("The science guy"): Mechanical engineer
• Mythbusters' Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman

Physics and Astronomy

• Michio Kaku: Theoretical physicist
• Brian Cox: Particle physicist
• Stephen Hawking: Theoretical physicist and cosmologist
• Carl Sagan: Astronomer and cosmologist (best known for the show Cosmos)
• Neil DeGrasse Tyson: Astrophysicist

Biology

• Richard Dawkins: Evolutionary biologist
• David Attenborough: Naturalist
• Desmond Morris: Zoologist and anthropologist

Medicine

• Sanjay Gupta: Neurosurgeon

History

• James Burke: Science historian (best known for the show Connections)

Wikipedia has an extended list of English-speaking popularizers of science. However, the world needs still more people who can make scientific findings accessible to the public.