Houston, We Have a Narrative

Why Science Needs Story

By: Randy Olson

Narrated by: David Stifel

Length: 8 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Ask a scientist about Hollywood, and you'll probably get eye rolls. But ask someone in Hollywood about science, and they'll see dollar signs: Moviemakers know that science can be the source of great stories, with all the drama and action that blockbusters require.

That's a huge mistake, says Randy Olson: Hollywood has a lot to teach scientists about how to tell a story - and, ultimately, how to do science better. With Houston, We Have a Narrative, he lays out a stunningly simple method for turning the dull into the dramatic.

Drawing on his unique background, which saw him leave his job as a working scientist to launch a career as a filmmaker, Olson first diagnoses the problem: When scientists tell us about their work, they pile one moment and one detail atop another moment and another detail - a stultifying procession of "and, and, and". What we need instead is an understanding of the basic elements of story, the narrative structures that our brains are all but hardwired to look for - which Olson boils down, brilliantly, to "And, But, Therefore", or ABT. At a stroke, the ABT approach introduces momentum ("And"), conflict ("But"), and resolution ("Therefore") - the fundamental building blocks of story.

As Olson has demonstrated by leading countless workshops worldwide, when scientists' eyes are opened to ABT, the effect is staggering: Suddenly, they're not just talking about their work - they're telling stories about it. And audiences are captivated.

Written with an uncommon verve and enthusiasm, and built on principles that are applicable to fields far beyond science, Houston, We Have a Narrative has the power to transform the way science is understood and appreciated, and ultimately how it's done.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2015 Randy Olson (P)2018 Tantor

Strongly, very strongly recommended for scientific writing!

Nowadays, any scientist must publish in scientific peer-reviewed journals or be ignored. Most scientific papers are absolutely boring, and feel as boring to write as to read. But Randy Olson provides simple rules and models to write interesting scientific papers. Now I can’t wait to write my next papers inspired by the ABT model. They will be so engaging that no one will be able to put them down!

Great Message Slightly DHY

I value my time greatly. The author repeatidly voiced his belief that scientists are stubborn creatures unwilling change directions unless bludgeoned repeatedly by an outside force. This wasted much of my time. But, I am not a scientist. I found the repetition painful. However I have gleaned many valuable insights from the book. I would recommend it to all, scientist or not as it will help clarify your thoughts and communication. * Needs a pdf to accompany it.

loved it, I still keep it a reference.

loved listening to this book. A must listen to every scientist in making. definitely worth a second listen too.

Great manual for everybody who writes

It is a great book for everybody who writes or does any type of presentations. It was fun to listen but now I have to get a paper copy to really figure out the details of his advice