Essays in the Study of Scientific Discourse: Methods, Practice, and Pedagogy

by John T. Battalio

Overview

With contributions by sixteen scholars from such diverse fields as communication, linguistics, literary studies, rhetoric, and sociology of sciences, Essays in the Study of Scientific Discourse continues the contemporary discussion about the origin and nature of scientific discourse and its function in today's society. Essays document the increasing importance of rhetorical expertise in scientific discourse, shed new light into the history and language of science, and offer pedagogical guidance for teachers of scientific writing. Readers may also discover new topics for scholarly research in scientific discourse.

Gay and Ted Gragson, for instance, show how technological advances may increase the rhetorical complexity of the grant proposal process, while J. Harrison Carpenter reveals the rhetorical power of the scientific report. In a related study, Cynthia Haller shows how scientific claims change as they mover from the scientific to the public arena. Dwight Atkinson gives empiricists a new methodology by integrating rhetorical analysis with sociolinguistic methodology. Richard Johnson-Sheehan and Dan Ding describe the evolution of scientific metaphor and passive voice, respectively. Ramón Plo Alastrué, Carmen Ramón Plo Alastrué-Llantada, and Rosemary Horowitz offer advice for teachers of scientific writing, while Steven Darian explores the intricacies and argumentative power of scientific classification schemas. In turn, Philippa Benson gives editorial advice to writers of scientific texts. Gender issues in scientific writing are addressed by Christine Skolnik and Mary Rosner. Trevor Pinch and Charles Alan Taylor put the cold fusion controversy of 1989 in critical perspective.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781567503852
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/09/1998
Series:	Attw Contemporary Studies in Technical Communication Series , #6
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

JOHN T. BATTALIO is Assistant Professor at Boise State University where he teaches in the Technical Communication Program. His recently published book, The Rhetoric of Science in the Evolution of American Ornithological Discourse (Ablex, 1998), analyzes the impact of language and rhetoric in the professionalization of science.

Table of Contents

Introduction, John T. Battalio
PART I. RHETORICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF SCIENCE
Uncertain Science and the Sponsored-Research Process, Gay M. Gragson and Ted L. Gragson
Neuropsychology, Sex, and Rhetoric, Christine M. Skolnik
Plotting a Middle Ground: An Account of a Failed Science Story, Mary Rosner
Foucault's Archaeological Method and the Discourse of Science: Plotting Enunciative Fields, Cynthia R. Haller
PART II: A CASE STUDY OF A CONTEMPORARY CONTROVERSY IN SCIENCE
Cold Fusion and the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge, Trevor Pinch
Science as Cultural Practice: A Rhetorical Perspective, Charles Alan Taylor
PART III: THE HISTORY OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOURSE
"Practicing Our Preaching": Gifford Pinchot, Conservation, and the Scientific Rhetoric of "Demonstration Forestry", J. Harrison Carpenter
Rationality Reborn: Historical Roots of the Passive Voice in Scientific Discourse, Dan Ding
PART IV: THE LANGUAGE OF SCIENCE
Integrating Multiple Analyses in Historical Studies of Scientific Discourse: The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1675-1975, Dwight Atkinson
Metaphor in the Rhetoric of Scientific Discourse, Richard D. Johnson-Sheehan
The Language of Classifying in Introductory Science Texts, Steven Darian
PART V: PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES TO SCIENCE WRITING
Changing Moorings in Scientific Writing: Suggestions to Authors, Allusions for Teachers, Phillipa Jane Benson
Textual and Contextual Models of Science Writing, Ramón Plo Alastrué and Carmen Pérez-Llantada
Practice-Centered Approaches to Literacy: Applications for the Research and Teaching of Science Writing, Rosemary Horowitz
About the Contributors
Author Index
Subject Index.
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