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Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

Photo of Andre Bormanis

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, October 2, 2017 / 3:30 PM, Building 8 Auditorium

Andre Bormanis

"Science Facts and Science Fictions: A Science Writer’s Trek through Hollywood"

ABSTRACT -- In the 19th century, the influence of science on writers and artists became more and more profound, giving rise to the field of literature now called science fiction. Science fiction, in turn, has inspired countless of its readers to become professional scientists. Their work soon influenced science fiction in a feedback loop that continues to this day.

Modern civilization is built on a foundation of advanced science, and yet few in the general public have much knowledge of basic scientific principles. The portrayal of science and scientists in television series and movies has a powerful influence on public perceptions of the values and dangers inherent in scientific progress. For the past quarter century I've worked as a consultant and writer for a number of science fiction (most notably Star Trek) and science documentary programs on television, and a few science fiction feature films. Through the lens of my own experience, I will explore the opportunities and challenges facing scientists working in Hollywood entertainment media to bring credible scientific content to the general public.

SPEAKER -- Andre Bormanis is writer/supervising producer for the science fiction series The Orville.

He was a writer and co-executive producer for the National Geographic Channel series  Mars.  He served as the director of science research for the Fox Television Studios production of  Cosmos  that aired in 2015.  Andre serves on the Board of Directors of FOTO — Friends of the Observatory, the support group for the Griffith Observatory. Andre has written and produced for television series such as TRON: Uprising, Legend of the Seeker,  Eleventh Hour, and Threshold.  Andre is best known for his work on numerous Star Trek TV Series and movies, with roles as writer, science consultant, and producer. For more information on these series, see his web site at skybynightproductions.com, which also contains a gallery of space and astronomy photos.

He wrote the book  Star Trek Science Logs and contributed to another,  New Worlds, New Civilizations.  He wrote the narration for "Centered in the Universe", a planetarium show currently running at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.  Andre is also a consultant to The Planetary Society and has been a frequent guest on the Big Picture Science Radio Show.

Andre was awarded a NASA Space Grant Fellowship to conduct research for the Space Policy Institute of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.  With the Institute's director, Dr. John Logsdon, he is co-author of a paper on long-term space exploration and co-editor of a conference proceedings on the same topic, both published in December 1992. Mr. Bormanis has also written astronomy and space science articles for a wide variety of magazines, including Sky & Telescope and Space News.

Andre received a B.S. in Physics from the University of Arizona in 1981, and an M.A. in Science, Technology, and Public Policy from the George Washington University in 1994.

Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov