Fletcher, Ronald (Author)
Transaction Publishers
Publication Date: 1991
Physical Details: xxviii + 419 pp.; ill.; bibl.; index
Language: English
In 1976, five years after his death, serious charges were leveled against the distinguished British scientist Sir Cyril Burt. His research on the nature of intelligence was challenged as fraudulent by a number of respected commentators, among them Leon Kamin, Oliver Gillie, Ann and Alan Clarke, and Leslie Hearnshaw. The evidence they marshaled, and the charges themselves are examined here in scrupulous detail. Written as a straightforward defense of Burt, this volume also tells a second story: the intrusion of the mass media into science, the power of the new media, and the success of this invasion, which threatens to replace intellectual authority. Convinced that a great injustice had been done, Fletcher examines each of the charges in detail, subjecting each of Burt's detractors to a symbolic cross-examination. He exposes carelessness and errors of interpretation, and reveals areas of evidence the critics failed to take into account. Each interrogation ends with a list of questions that call for clear public answer. Fletcher's closing argument calls for the restoration of Burt's reputation, so that justice is done. The broader significance of this case study goes far beyond the Burt controversy itself, and has implications for the conduct of science in an increasingly contentious social environment. Fletcher describes how ideology, in alliance with a receptive popular journalism and the media, is able to establish itself as a powerful third force in scientific discourse. The Burt Affair demonstrates what happens when the media establish a viewpoint that permeates not only the scientific community, but also entrenches that perspective so thoroughly in public understanding that its assumptions are not even questioned.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Oliver Hochadel;
Miquel Carandell Baruzzi;
Clara Florensa;
(2016)
Introduction: Scuffles, Scoops and Scams: The Construction of Prehistoric Knowledge in Newspapers
Article
Maddalena Cataldi;
(2016)
Inventing the Menton Man. Rivière's Discovery as Reflected in the French Media
Article
Boyd, Amanda D.;
Paveglio, Travis B.;
(2014)
Front Page or “Buried” beneath the Fold? Media Coverage of Carbon Capture and Storage
Article
Varughese, Shiju Sam;
(2011)
Media and Science in Disaster Contexts: Deliberations on Earthquakes in the Regional Press in Kerala, India
Article
Keller, Evelyn Fox;
(2011)
What Are Climate Scientists to Do?
Article
Tucker, William H.;
(1994)
Fact and fiction in the discovery of Sir Cyril Burt's flaws
Article
Oliver Hochadel;
(2016)
One Skull and Many Headlines: The Role of the Press in the Steinau Hoax of 1911
Book
Luca Tambolo;
(2024)
Il mondo su misura. Introduzione al negazionismo scientifico
Book
Larry Gross;
John Stuart Katz;
Jay Ruby;
(2003)
Image Ethics In The Digital Age
Book
Walsh, Lynda;
(2006)
Sins against Science: The Scientific Media Hoaxes of Poe, Twain, and Others
Essay Review
Tverdek, Edward;
(2003)
Fool Me Once
Article
Sanne Knudsen;
(2017)
Thinking Inside the Frame: A Framing Analysis of the Humanities in Danish Print News Media
Article
Laura Valls Plana;
(2016)
A Mammoth in the Park: Palaeontology, Press and Popular Culture in Barcelona (1870–1910)
Article
James Owen Weatherall;
Cailin O’Connor;
Justin P. Bruner;
(2020)
How to Beat Science and Influence People: Policymakers and Propaganda in Epistemic Networks
Article
Almeida, Maria Antónia Pires de;
(2011)
A epidemia de cólera de 1853--1856 na imprensa portuguesa
Article
Medeiros, Flavia Natercia da Silva;
(2013)
Fora da ordem natural: a natureza nos discursos sobre a clonagem e a pesquisa com células-tronco em jornais brasileiros
Chapter
Mikihito Tanaka;
(2015)
Agenda Building Intervention of Socio-Scientific Issues: A Science Media Centre of Japan Perspective
Book
Neufeld, Michael J.;
(2013)
Spacefarers: Images of Astronauts and Cosmonauts in the Heroic Era of Spaceflight
Book
Joshua Nall;
(2019)
News from Mars: Mass Media and the Forging of a New Astronomy, 1860-1910
Article
Nielsen, Kristian H.;
Autzen, Charlotte;
(2011)
Looking Over the Shoulders of Researchers: In Quest of a Research-Media Partnership and Online, News Media--Based Researcher Identities on the Galathea 3 Expedition From 2006 to 2007
Be the first to comment!