Particular popular science
British scientists writing, speaking and broadcasting on science and religion from the 1980 s
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20315614 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Paul Merchant (0000-0003-4893-7460, National Life Stories, The British Library, Euston Road, London NW1 2DB, UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 72 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 365-381 |
| Publication date | 2018-09-20 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Notes and Records the Royal Society Journal of the History of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0035-9149 • E-ISSN: 1743-0178 |
| Publisher | The Royal Society (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1098/rsnr.2017.0045 |
| OpenAlex | W2795805514 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
This paper draws on extended life story oral history interviews with scientists who, beginning in the 1980s, turned to writing popular books, making radio and television programmes and taking to the stage for public lectures and debates, with relations between science and religion often a key topic: Peter Atkins, Nicholas Humphrey, Steve Jones, John Polkinghorne, Russell Stannard and Lewis Wolpert. I show that these interviews capture aspects of motivation and experience missed in much existing work on popular science. Stressing historical and individual particularity, I argue that what these scientists say about their decisions, aims and rewards should make us question a strong tendency in recent scholarship both to regard popular science as part of scientific work in general, and also to read the outcomes of popular science – such as advocacy for science or the promotion of certain theories – as the motivations for its production
Media studies · Pedagogy · Political science · Popular science · Promotion (chess) · Scholarship · Science communication · Science education · Social science · Sociology · Work (physics) · Evolution and Science Education · Law · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
| Citations per year | 0.17 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2020 - 2020 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |