A worthwhile and fascinating piece at Edge about the "third culture," which is really just scientists having a conversation with the larger world about why what they're doing is vital.

Excerpt that I couldn't agree with more. "A fundamental distinction exists between the literature of science and that of disciplines whose subjects are self-referential and most often concerned with the exegesis of earlier thinkers. Unlike those disciplines in which there is no expectation of systematic progress and in which one reflects on and recycles the ideas of others, science, on its frontiers, poses more and better questions, better put. They are questions phrased to elicit answers; science finds the answers and moves on. Meanwhile the traditional humanities establishment continues its exhaustive insular hermeneutics, indulging itself in cultural pessimism, clinging to its fashionably glum outlook on world events."

This essay isn't perfect by any means, but it is talking about something that I think is profoundly important. The reactions from other scientists and thinkers is as interesting as the piece itself. Go, read.