Reading Popular Physics: Disciplinary Skirmishes and Textual Strategies - Softcover

Leane, Elizabeth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1138259608 ISBN 13: 9781138259607

Publisher: Routledge, 2016

Synopsis

Reading Popular Physics is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the nature and implications of physics popularizations. A literary critic trained in science, Elizabeth Leane treats popular science writing as a distinct and significant genre, focusing particularly on five bestselling books: Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, Steven Weinberg's The First Three Minutes, James Gleick's Chaos, M. Mitchell Waldrop's Complexity, and Gary Zukav's The Dancing Wu Li Masters. Leane situates her examination of the texts within the heated interdisciplinary exchanges known as the 'Science Wars', focusing specifically on the disputed issue of the role of language in science. Her use of literary analysis reveals how popular science books function as sites for 'disciplinary skirmishes' as she uncovers the ways in which popularizers of science influence the public. In addition to their explicit discussion of scientific concepts, Leane argues, these authors employ subtle textual strategies that encode claims about the nature and status of scientific knowledge - claims that are all the more powerful because they are unacknowledged. Her book will change the way these texts are read, offering readers a fresh perspective on this highly visible and influential genre.

About this title

About the Author

Elizabeth Leane is a lecturer in the School of English, Journalism and European Languages at the University of Tasmania, Australia.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1138259608
• ISBN 13: 9781138259607
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208