Shaping Science with Rhetoric

The Cases of Dobzhansky, Schrodinger, and Wilson

By: Leah Ceccarelli

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Hardcover | 1 July 2001 | Edition Number 1

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192 Pages

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How do scientists persuade colleagues from diverse fields to cross the disciplinary divide, risking their careers in new interdisciplinary research programs? Why do some attempts to inspire such research win widespread acclaim and support, while others do not?

In Shaping Science with Rhetoric, Leah Ceccarelli addresses such questions through close readings of three scientific monographs in their historical contexts—Theodosius Dobzhansky's Genetics and the Origin of Species (1937), which inspired the "modern synthesis" of evolutionary biology; Erwin Schrödinger's What Is Life? (1944), which catalyzed the field of molecular biology; and Edward O. Wilson's Consilience (1998), a so far not entirely successful attempt to unite the social and biological sciences. She examines the rhetorical strategies used in each book and evaluates which worked best, based on the reviews and scientific papers that followed in their wake.

Ceccarelli's work will be important for anyone interested in how interdisciplinary fields are formed, from historians and rhetoricians of science to scientists themselves.

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Preface	p. ix
Inspiring Interdisciplinarity	p. 1
Texts That Seek to Catalyze Community: An Unexamined Genre of Science	p. 3
The Close Textual-Intertextual Analysis: Combining Rhetorical Criticism and Historical Research	p. 6
Theodosius Dobzhansky's Genetics and the Origin of Species
The Initiator of the Evolutionary Synthesis: Historians and Scientist Weigh In	p. 13
Conflict between Disciplines and Theories	p. 15
The Evolutionary Synthesis	p. 19
What Launched the Synthesis?	p. 21
The Influence of Dobzhansky's Genetics and the Origin of Species	p. 24
Prelude to a Rhetorical Reading	p. 29
A Text Rhetorically Designed to Unite Competing Fields	p. 31
Simplifying Theory	p. 31
Surveying the Results of Research	p. 37
Using Language That Promotes Conceptual Change	p. 41
Addressing Social Concerns	p. 45
Conclusions	p. 56
Erwin Schrodinger's What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell
The "Uncle Tom's Cabin" of the Molecular Biology Revolution: Assessing the Place of a Text in History	p. 61
The Influence of Schrodinger's Text	p. 63
The Value of Untrue, Unoriginal Science	p. 67
Other Laws of Physics	p. 75
Prelude to a Rhetorical Reading	p. 80
A Text Rhetorically Designed to Negotiate Different Interests and Beliefs	p. 82
Comparison with Other Attempts at Inspiring Interdisciplinary Work	p. 83
Negotiating Common Ground: The Value of Precision	p. 89
Negotiating Professional Goals: The Appeal to Ambition	p. 90
Negotiating Disciplinary Linguistic Practices: Conceptual Chiasmus	p. 92
Negotiating Ideological Commitments: Strategic Ambiguity	p. 97
Conclusions	p. 109
Edward O. Wilson's Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge
The Controversy over Sociobiology: Scholars Offer Conflicting Explanations	p. 113
Wilson's Purpose	p. 113
The Effect of Wilson's Interdisciplinary Appeals	p. 116
Explanation 1: Wilson Is Wrong; The Cultural Divide Should Not Be Bridged	p. 119
Explanation 2: Critics Are Unable to See the Truth Because of Political Bias	p. 121
Prelude to a Rhetorical Reading	p. 124
A Text Rhetorically Designed to Fuel Interdisciplinary Hostilities	p. 128
A Rhetoric of Conquest, Not Negotiation	p. 129
An Explicit Commitment to Reductionism	p. 139
Equivocation Rather Than Productive Polysemy	p. 145
What Wilson's Consilience Could Have Been	p. 148
Speaking to Multiple Audiences
The Genre	p. 157
Comparison of Dobzhansky and Schrodinger	p. 158
Wilson's Participation in the Genre	p. 164
Contributions to Four Ongoing Conversations	p. 168
Rhetoric of Science	p. 168
Rhetorical Inquiry	p. 170
History of Science	p. 177
Interdisciplinarity	p. 179
Bibliography	p. 183
Index	p. 199
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Shaping Science with Rhetoric

The Cases of Dobzhansky, Schrodinger, and Wilson

At a Glance

Hardcover

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Defective items

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