Moderators bring the natural sciences and humanities together

In order to better understand scientific findings and their effects, moderators Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim and Marie Meimberg want to bring the natural sciences and humanities together. "We are bringing together what belongs together," said Nguyen-Kim on Sunday at the Leipzig Book Fair. She has long suffered from the fact that "natural sciences are freak sciences". Together, the women have published the children's book series "BiBiBiber hat da mal 'ne Frage".

The friends came up with the idea for the series during long conversations with each other about scientific topics, said Meimberg, who according to her story does not know much about the scientific topics that her friend regularly deals with. "Then she explains it to me until I know I can now explain it to a beaver - or a child," said Meimberg.

The aim of the books is also to create emotional access to topics such as climate change. "We want knowledge to be more than just information, we want it to be touching," said Meimberg.

Nguyen-Kim said that taking children seriously and allowing them to deal with difficult topics - such as grief and death - would make it easier for them to understand the issues. "If you don't dismiss children with a short answer, they will make the connections themselves." At the same time, the team of authors also wanted to give hope by explaining the difficult. "I believe in people and that we can do it. That's what we want to convey," said the chemist.

Nguyen-Kim, whose real name is Mai-Thi Leiendecker, has become known for her YouTube channel "maiLab", among other things. She regularly published content on scientific topics on this channel until April 2023. The author is also a member of the Senate of the Max Planck Society.

Meimberg has produced music and films in the past and also has a YouTube channel named after her. There, she addressed various social issues. She was awarded the Grimme Prize as a columnist.