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Shaping science with rhetoric : the cases of Dobzhansky, Schrödinger, and Wilson / Leah Ceccarelli.

LIBRA QH303.6 .C433 2001
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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Ceccarelli, Leah.
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Life sciences literature.
Rhetoric.
Interdisciplinary approach to knowledge.
Interdisciplinary research.
Wilson, Edward O. Consilience.
Wilson, Edward O.
Dobzhansky, Theodosius, 1900-1975. Genetics and the origin of species.
Dobzhansky, Theodosius.
Schrödinger, Erwin, 1887-1961. What is life?.
Schrödinger, Erwin.
Interprofessional Relations.
Research Design.
Communication.
Science--history.
Medical Subjects:
Interprofessional Relations.
Research Design.
Communication.
Science--history.
Physical Description:
xi, 204 pages ; 23 cm
Place of Publication:
Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2001.
Contents:
1 Inspiring Interdisciplinarity 1
Texts That Seek to Catalyze Community: An Unexamined Genre of Science 3
The Close Textual-Intertextual Analysis: Combining Rhetorical Criticism and Historical Research 6
I Theodosius Dobzhansky's Genetics and the Origin of Species
2 The Initiator of the Evolutionary Synthesis: Historians and Scientist Weigh In 13
Conflict between Disciplines and Theories 15
The Evolutionary Synthesis 19
What Launched the Synthesis? 21
The Influence of Dobzhansky's Genetics and the Origin of Species 24
Prelude to a Rhetorical Reading 29
3 A Text Rhetorically Designed to Unite Competing Fields 31
Simplifying Theory 31
Surveying the Results of Research 37
Using Language That Promotes Conceptual Change 41
Addressing Social Concerns 45
II Erwin Schrodinger's What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell
4 The "Uncle Tom's Cabin" of the Molecular Biology Revolution: Assessing the Place of a Text in History 61
The Influence of Schrodinger's Text 63
The Value of Untrue, Unoriginal Science 67
Other Laws of Physics 75
Prelude to a Rhetorical Reading 80
5 A Text Rhetorically Designed to Negotiate Different Interests and Beliefs 82
Comparison with Other Attempts at Inspiring Interdisciplinary Work 83
Negotiating Common Ground: The Value of Precision 89
Negotiating Professional Goals: The Appeal to Ambition 90
Negotiating Disciplinary Linguistic Practices: Conceptual Chiasmus 92
Negotiating Ideological Commitments: Strategic Ambiguity 97
III Edward O. Wilson's Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge
6 The Controversy over Sociobiology: Scholars Offer Conflicting Explanations 113
Wilson's Purpose 113
The Effect of Wilson's Interdisciplinary Appeals 116
Explanation 1: Wilson Is Wrong; The Cultural Divide Should Not Be Bridged 119
Explanation 2: Critics Are Unable to See the Truth Because of Political Bias 121
Prelude to a Rhetorical Reading 124
7 A Text Rhetorically Designed to Fuel Interdisciplinary Hostilities 128
A Rhetoric of Conquest, Not Negotiation 129
An Explicit Commitment to Reductionism 139
Equivocation Rather Than Productive Polysemy 145
What Wilson's Consilience Could Have Been 148
IV Speaking to Multiple Audiences
8 The Genre 157
Comparison of Dobzhansky and Schrodinger 158
Wilson's Participation in the Genre 164
9 Contributions to Four Ongoing Conversations 168
Rhetoric of Science 168
Rhetorical Inquiry 170
History of Science 177
Interdisciplinarity 179.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-197) and index.
ISBN:
0226099067
0226099075
OCLC:
45276826

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