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Toumey focuses on the ways in which the symbols of science are employed to signify scientific authority in a variety of cases, from the selling of medical products to the making of public policy about AIDS/HIV--a practice he calls "conjuring" science. It is this "conjuring" of the images and symbols of scientific authority that troubles Toumey and leads him to reflect on the history of public understanding and perceptions of science in the United States.
Conjuring Science explores the history of magic shows and scientific entertainment. It follows the frictions and connections of magic and science as they occurred in the world of popular entertainment in France from the mid-eighteenth to the early twentieth century. It situates conjurers within the broader culture of science and argues that stage magic formed an important popular conduit for science and scientific enthusiasm during this period. From the scientific recreations of the fairs to the grand illusions of the theatre stage and the development of early cinema, conjurers used and were inspired by scientific and technological innovations to create illusions, provoke a sense of wonder, and often even instruct their audience. In their hands, science took on many meanings and served different purposes: it was a set of pleasant facts and recreational demonstrations upon which to draw; it was the knowledge presented in various scientific lectures accompanied by optical projections at magic shows; it was the techniques necessary to create illusions and effects on stage and later on at the cinema; and it was a way to separate conjuring from the deceit of mediums, mystical showmen and quacks in order to gain a better standing within an increasingly scientifically-minded society.
Conjuring Science explores the history of magic shows and scientific entertainment. It follows the frictions and connections of magic and science as they occurred in the world of popular entertainment in France from the mid-eighteenth to the early twentieth century. It situates conjurers within the broader culture of science and argues that stage magic formed an important popular conduit for science and scientific enthusiasm during this period. From the scientific recreations of the fairs to the grand illusions of the theatre stage and the development of early cinema, conjurers used and were inspired by scientific and technological innovations to create illusions, provoke a sense of wonder, and often even instruct their audience. In their hands, science took on many meanings and served different purposes: it was a set of pleasant facts and recreational demonstrations upon which to draw; it was the knowledge presented in various scientific lectures accompanied by optical projections at magic shows; it was the techniques necessary to create illusions and effects on stage and later on at the cinema; and it was a way to separate conjuring from the deceit of mediums, mystical showmen and quacks in order to gain a better standing within an increasingly scientifically-minded society.
The marvellous complexity of the Universe emerges from several deep laws and a handful of fundamental constants that fix its shape, scale, and destiny. Peter Atkins identifies the minimum decisions that would be needed for the Universe to behave as it does, arguing that the laws of Nature can spring from very little. Or perhaps from nothing at all.
This book's structure reflects the different dimensions to learning science. The first section focuses on the importance of talk in the science classroom, while the second explores the key role of practical work. The third section is concerned with the creative, theoretical aspect of science. Section four follows this by considering the communication of ideas and how pupils learn to participate in the discourse of the scientific community. Section five emphasizes the place of science in the broader context, considering its moral and ethical dimensions and its place in a cultural context. Finally, section six explores the complexity of the task faced by science teachers, highlighting the knowledge and skills science teachers must acquire in order to create an environment in which students are motivated to learn science.
The science taught in high schools-Newton's theory of universal gravitation, basic structure of the atom, cell division, DNA replication-is accepted as the way nature works. What is puzzling is how this precisely specified knowledge could come from an intellectual process-the scientific method-that has been incredibly difficult to describe or characterize with any precision. Philosophers, sociologists, and scientists have weighed in on how science operates without arriving at any consensus. Despite this confusion, the scientific method has been one of the highest priorities of science teaching in the United States over the past 150 years. Everyone agrees that high school students and the public more generally should understand the process of science, if only we could determine exactly what it is. From the rise of the laboratory method in the late nineteenth century, through the "five step" method, to the present day, John Rudolph tracks the changing attitudes, methods, and impacts of science education. Of particular interest is the interplay between various stakeholders: students, school systems, government bodies, the professional science community, and broader culture itself. Rudolph demonstrates specifically how the changing depictions of the processes of science have been bent to different social purposes in various historical periods. In some eras, learning about the process of science was thought to contribute to the intellectual and moral improvement of the individual, while in others it was seen as a way to minimize public involvement (or interference) in institutional science. Rudolph ultimately shows that how we teach the methodologies of science matters a great deal, especially in our current era, where the legitimacy of science is increasingly under attack.--
Science is a defining feature of the modern world, and popular science is where most of us make sense of that fact. Understanding Popular Scienceprovides a framework to help understand the development of popular science and current debates about it. In a lively and accessible style, Peter Broks shows how popular science has been invented, redefined and fought over. From early-nineteenth century radical science to twenty-first century government initiatives, he examines popular science as an arena where the authority of science and the authority of the state are legitimized and challenged. The book includes clear accounts of the public perception of scientists, visions of the future, fears of an “anti-science†movement and concerns about scientific literacy. The final chapter proposes a new model for understanding the interaction between lay and expert knowledge. This book is essential reading in cultural studies, science studies, history of science and science communication.
The growing field of literature and science is for the first time given a fully theorized overview. Using case studies from a three hundred year history, Sleigh focuses on literary form and argues that novels did not just reflect or inform areas of science, but were part of a broader, ongoing cultural negotiation about how to read things.