The bulk of this address concerns itself with the extent to which professional scientists were involved in popular science writing in early twentieth-century Britain. Contrary to a widespread assumption, it is argued that a significant proportion of the scientific community engaged in writing the more educational type of popular science. Some high-profile figures acquired enough skill in popular writing to exert considerable influence over the public's perception of science and its significance. The address also shows how publishers actively sought `expert' authors for popular material, but at the same time controlled what was published in accordance with their perception of what would sell. At a more popular level of writing there were many semi-professional authors who, while not active scientists, exploited close contacts with the scientific community. Here there was a strong emphasis on the practical applications of science. The address concludes by suggesting parallels between popular science writing in this period and the present state of popular writing about the history of science.
...More
Article
Adelene Buckland;
(2021)
Charles Dickens, Man of Science
(/isis/citation/CBB070659844/)
Article
Hirshbein, Laura;
Sarvananda, Sharmalie;
(2008)
History, Power, and Electricity: American Popular Magazine Accounts of Electroconvulsive Therapy, 1940--2005
(/isis/citation/CBB000774199/)
Article
David K. Hecht;
(2021)
Embracing Mystery: Radiation Risks and Popular Science Writing in the Early Cold War
(/isis/citation/CBB155434883/)
Book
Ben Marsden;
Hazel Hutchinson;
Ralph O'Connor;
(2013)
Uncommon Contexts: Encounters between Science and Literature, 1800-1914
(/isis/citation/CBB598016454/)
Book
Boon, Timothy;
(2008)
Films of Fact: A History of Science in Documentary Films and Television
(/isis/citation/CBB000950230/)
Article
Macauley, William R.;
(2012)
Crafting the Future: Envisioning Space Exploration in Post-War Britain
(/isis/citation/CBB001211876/)
Article
Gouyon, Jean-Baptiste;
(2011)
The BBC Natural History Unit: Instituting Natural History Film-making in Britain
(/isis/citation/CBB001036164/)
Chapter
Gooday, Graeme;
(2007)
Illuminating the Expert-Consumer Relationship in Domestic Electricity
(/isis/citation/CBB000773407/)
Article
Siemsen, Hayo;
(2010)
The Mach-Planck Debate Revisited: Democratization of Science or Elite Knowledge?
(/isis/citation/CBB001034670/)
Book
LaFollette, Marcel C.;
(2008)
Science on the Air: Popularizers and Personalities on Radio and Early Television
(/isis/citation/CBB000970002/)
Thesis
Von Burg, Ron;
(2005)
The Cinematic Turn in Public Discussions of Science
(/isis/citation/CBB001560709/)
Article
Locke, Simon;
(2012)
Colouring in the “Black-Box”: Alternative Renderings of Scientific Visualisations in Two Comic Book Cosmologies
(/isis/citation/CBB001252488/)
Book
Hüppauf, Bernd-Rüdiger;
Weingart, Peter;
(2008)
Science Images and Popular Images of the Sciences
(/isis/citation/CBB001024124/)
Article
Dörries, Matthias;
(2008)
The “Winter” Analogy Fallacy: From Superbombs to Supervolcanoes
(/isis/citation/CBB000931789/)
Article
Peter Burke;
(2016)
Explosion des Wissens. Ein Gespräch mit Joseph Vogl
(/isis/citation/CBB339448070/)
Article
Jia, Hepeng;
Liu, Li;
(2014)
Unbalanced Progress: The Hard Road from Science Popularisation to Public Engagement with Science in China
(/isis/citation/CBB001420043/)
Article
Hochadel, Oliver;
(2013)
A Boom of Bones and Books: The “Popularization Industry” of Atapuerca and Human-Origins Research in Contemporary Spain
(/isis/citation/CBB001320415/)
Book
Lee McIntyre;
(2021)
How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason
(/isis/citation/CBB702116961/)
Article
Bowler, Peter J.;
(2013)
Popular Science Magazines in Interwar Britain: Authors and Readerships
(/isis/citation/CBB001320568/)
Book
Joshua Nall;
(2019)
News from Mars: Mass Media and the Forging of a New Astronomy, 1860-1910
(/isis/citation/CBB549536322/)
Be the first to comment!