A01=Elizabeth Leane
Anthropomorphic Metaphor
Author_Elizabeth Leane
Big Bang Cosmology
book
books
Category=DSBH
Category=PDX
Classical Scientific Realism
cosmology narrative structures
dancing
Disorderly Behavior
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eq_biography-true-stories
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eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_science
Hawking's Book
Hawking's Success
hawkings
Hawking’s Book
Hawking’s Success
interdisciplinary science studies
language in scientific knowledge claims
literary analysis of science
Literary Intellectuals
masters
mechanics
Mysterious Universe
Physics Popularizations
Popular Physics Books
Popular Science
Popular Science Books
Popular Science Writing
quantum
Quantum Consciousness
Quantum Theory
quantum theory metaphors
Recent Boom
science
science communication
Science Popularizers
Science Studies Practitioners
Science Wars
scientist stereotypes
Subatomic Entities
Superstring Theory
Vice Versa
wars
Wave Function Collapse
Wave Particle Duality
writing
Young Man
Product details
- ISBN 9780754658504
- Weight: 430g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 28 May 2007
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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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.
Elizabeth Leane is a lecturer in the School of English, Journalism and European Languages at the University of Tasmania, Australia.
