Books, podcasts and channels: 15 references to learn science communication
An annotated selection, from the classics to short formats, for teams that have to explain their science.
Scientific teams that have to communicate often ask us the same question: where do I start to learn how to explain science? Here are fifteen references we recommend, sorted by format. Each comes with what it concretely teaches someone who writes for a biotech, medtech or deeptech company.
The selection favors works and programs available in French, with a few exceptions in English when the format has no equivalent. They remain instructive for any team, whatever its working language.
Contents
Five books
The model of the book that deals with a difficult subject without equations, or almost. Read it for the progression: each chapter assumes only the previous one.
A scientific thesis carried by an explicit metaphor, and discussed by the author himself. Useful for understanding what a strong image brings, and what it costs.
The demonstration that a personal tone and careful language do not harm rigor. Read it for the rhythm of the sentences.
A non-scientist tells science through its actors and anecdotes. Useful for learning to give results a face, which many corporate contents lack.
The reader is placed inside the explanation. A good example of what the second person allows in a science communication text.
Three podcasts and programs
A daily hour with guest researchers. Listen for the way journalists rephrase an answer that is too technical without offending the guest: exactly the job of a scientific writer facing an expert.
A short format centered on a news item. Useful for seeing how an idea is extracted from a research paper and put into context in a few minutes.
A long-running independent podcast run by enthusiasts. Interesting for the diversity of subjects and for the way a community corrects and enriches the episodes.
Four video channels
Videos structured like demonstrations, with a constant gradation of difficulty. Watch for the art of saying “we will simplify here” without losing the viewer's trust.
Biology told through unexpected questions. An example of choosing an angle: the subject is the same as in a textbook, the entry point is different.
Very short formats produced by a research organization. Useful for seeing how an institution talks about its own work without self-promotion.
Animations that explain complex mechanisms with a visual vocabulary that is consistent from one video to the next. Study it for the visual grammar: shapes, colors and movements have a stable meaning.
Three magazines
“Pour la Science”, the French edition of Scientific American. Articles written by researchers and reworked by an editorial team: the best school for observing the passage from an expert's text to a readable text.
“Epsiloon”, launched in 2021 by former journalists of Science & Vie. Read it for the hierarchy of information and the use of infographics.
“La Recherche”. A more demanding level, close to journals, that shows how far you can go without losing an educated but non-specialist reader.
How to use them in a company
Reading is not enough; you have to extract rules. We offer the teams we support a simple exercise: for each reference, note one technique observed (an analogy, a transition, a way of announcing a simplification) and apply it to a paragraph of their own content.
Books: the progression from one chapter to the next, and the announcement of simplifications.
Podcasts: the rephrasing of an expert's answer, and the contextualization of a result.
Videos: the choice of angle and the consistency of the visual vocabulary.
Magazines: the hierarchy of information and the editorial work on an expert's text.
Going further
Frequently asked questions
Which book should you start with to learn science communication?
“A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking remains the best entry point: a difficult subject, an exemplary progression and almost no equations. For a reader in a hurry, “The Universe in Your Hand” by Christophe Galfard is shorter and just as instructive on the method.
Are these references enough to write scientific content in a company?
They provide the techniques. Two things are missing that support brings: knowledge of the target audience (buyer, clinician, investor) and a scientific review that guarantees the simplification does not betray the data.
Are there training courses in science communication?
Yes, at universities, in some research organizations and with associations of science communicators. For a company team, a short course followed by work on its own content is more effective than a generalist curriculum.
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