Thesis ID: CBB214261961

Willy Ley, the Science Writers, and the Popular Reenchantment of Science (2014)

unapi

This dissertation explores the life and career of Willy Ley, a science writer and popularizer of spaceflight technology in Germany and the United States during the twentieth century. By following his various “campaigns” to popularize a future of interplanetary travel and promote a vision of science that was inclusive and open, this dissertation highlights the cultural influence of an intermediary and “outsider,” who operated as a media-savvy scientific celebrity. A focus on Ley as an important figure in the history of technology helps to correct an imbalance in existing historiography, which traditionally sheds light on engineers, astronauts, and politicians. It demonstrates that the history of spaceflight is a history of media, popular representations, and artifacts. Additionally, it situates the history of spaceflight within broader avenues of science popularization, which could include efforts to celebrate the future of technology, as well as the past accomplishments of scientists and engineers. An analysis of Ley’s books, tactics, and perspectives will demonstrate that histories of popular science should include key efforts to popularize the history of science. These efforts will help to reveal the open, cosmopolitan, and socially engaged roots of an academic discipline, particularly in the publishing world of New York City during the Second World War and early Cold War. A focus on Ley will help to contextualize the maturation of the history of science, by relocating our perspectives from a narrow view of disciplinary formation to a broader appreciation of the circulation of texts, ideas, and representations. A biography of Ley serves as a case study that will invite further revisions to many traditional narratives.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB214261961/

Similar Citations

Book Nikolow, Sybilla; Schirrmacher, Arne; (2007)
Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit als Ressourcen für einander. Studien zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte im 20. Jahrhundert (/isis/citation/CBB001023666/)

Chapter Test Bibliographic List; Daum, Andreas; (2008)
Geschichte des Wissenschaftsjournalismus (/isis/citation/CBB001020667/)

Article Gepper, Alexander C. T.; (2012)
Extraterrestrial Encounters: UFOs, Science and the Quest for Transcendence, 1947--1972 (/isis/citation/CBB001211878/)

Book Goschler, Constantin; (2000)
Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit in Berlin, 1870-1930 (/isis/citation/CBB000110622/)

Article Oliver Marsh; (2019)
Life Cycle of a Star: Carl Sagan and the Circulation of Reputation (/isis/citation/CBB174790988/)

Book Lente, Dick van; (2012)
The Nuclear Age in Popular Media: A Transnational History, 1945--1965 (/isis/citation/CBB001253035/)

Book Thurs, Daniel Patrick; (2007)
Science Talk: Changing Notions of Science in American Popular Culture (/isis/citation/CBB000773753/)

Thesis Newell, Catherine Lea; (2012)
The Wheels of Titan: Faith, the Future, and the American Frontier (/isis/citation/CBB001560757/)

Chapter Nikolow, Sybilla; Wessely, Christina; (2007)
Öffentlichkeit als epistemologische und politische Ressource für die Genese umstrittener Wissenschaftskonzepte (/isis/citation/CBB001023702/)

Article Vera Keller; Ted McCormick; (2016)
Towards a History of Projects (/isis/citation/CBB680817776/)

Book Roland Jackson; (2018)
The Ascent of John Tyndall: Victorian Scientist, Mountaineer, and Public Intellectual (/isis/citation/CBB237482450/)

Authors & Contributors
Schirrmacher, Arne
Nikolow, Sybilla
Test Concept
Samia Salem
Miller, Eva
Marsh, Oliver
Concepts
Popularization
Science and society
Public understanding of science
Popular culture
Periodicals; serials
Biographies
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
20th century, late
20th century, early
18th century
17th century
Places
Germany
United States
Great Britain
England
Weimar Republic (1919-1933)
Japan
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment