The answer to our question

As I’ve previously hinted, George Johnson is a man that serves a very interesting purpose in helping draw some conclusions regarding how public figures and education can impact societal attitudes toward the sciences. He is a man that has a foot both inside and outside of the scientific community; he plays a role in both educating the public regarding cancer, and therefore building up societal respect of the sciences, while also uncovering some of the dirty secrets of statistics and those very same sciences; he is capable of writing a gripping story that conveys both information and emotion. He is therefore, in many ways, the ultimate answer to our question.

Through his book, Johnson conveys the story of Nancy’s survival of cancer as well as his own story of racing to uncover information about cancer so fluidly, combining the two in the method that is both interesting and easy to follow. He thereby appeals to countless audiences: those that are interested in the raw science, those who can relate to the horror of battling cancer, and those that enjoy a good story, to name just a few. He uses first-person emotions in a book laden with third-person style information, blending so many styles of writing together into one book. And the lasting impact is a book that few can put down, yet few can stop learning from.

            In doing so, Johnson clearly establishes himself as an important public figure, capable of educating a wide audience on a subject that is so central to numerous scientific debates at this time. He is capable of manipulating his platform, utilizing the talent and knowledge that he was blessed with, and greatly impacting his readers. And above all, answers our question. So, what impact can important political figures and education have on societal attitudes toward the sciences? Well, with the right techniques, just about any impact that is desired. In the case of Johnson, that lasting impact was the establishment of awe and mystique with regards to attitudes towards cancer, yet also resentment towards the crazy impacts that the sciences can have on a person’s life.

Johnson himself is the answer that we have sought throughout this entire project. He is a man that, through his literature, has made himself an impressive ambassador between literature and the sciences; he has crafted a book worthy of the New York Times’ attention, and in doing so, has modified the attitudes of society towards the sciences.