Culture And Science in the Nineteenth-Century Media

Henson, Louise; Cantor, Geoffrey; Dawson, Gowan; Noakes, Richard; Shuttleworth, Sally; Topham, Jonathan R.

doi:10.4324/9781315258706

Cited by 22 publications

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“…Journalists and novelists translated scientific idioms into ordinary language so that for the first time people had access to information previously shared only by experts in the field [Roderique, 2000, p. 19]. The contribution of the Victorian press to the dissemination of scientific ideas and to the formation of public opinion has been extensively investigated [Henson et al, 2004]. For example, it has been demonstrated how nineteenth-century periodicals provided a place of controversy and interchange [Shuttleworth and Cantor, 2004].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reading dermatology in the Victorian newspaper. The performance of medical vocabulary in The Times correspondence column

Garrisi¹

2017

JCOM

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This contribution concerns the role of the Victorian newspaper correspondence column in advancing knowledge of dermatology in relation to corporal punishment. It explores The Times' coverage of an inquest into the death by flogging of a British soldier. I argue that on the one hand, The Times participated in the debate about flogging in the army by bringing forward skin anatomy as an argument against corporal punishment. On the other hand, the paper might have used the publication of letters with medical content as a marketing strategy to maintain its authority and credibility against accusations of sensationalism. Abstract Health communication; Popularization of science and technology; Science and media Keywords ContextIn the second half of the nineteenth century, an inquest into the death of a soldier posed a challenge to perceiving the skin as a barrier of the human body during corporal punishment. A soldier called John Frederick White died from wounds caused by the infliction of 150 lashes. At that time, beating someone's back with sticks, whips or other tools was a judicial measure to maintain order in the army and the navy as well as in schools, prisons and private homes [Abbott, 2010]. In the army, an individual could be inflicted with anything from fifty up to thousands of lashes, which were given in instalments over the period of a year. A time interval was allowed between the whipping sessions to give the skin the opportunity to heal [Scott, 1950, p. 86]. Considering the skin's healing only as a symptom of full recovery was a misconception generated from an understanding of the skin as a superficial and protective layer that was independent of the underlying tissues. Sanitary reformer G. C. Rothery wrote: 'nature has provided a cushion covered with a sensitive skin, which if acted upon rightly, cannot result in injury ' [1897, p. 44]. However, these ideas coexisted with a new perception of skin that had appeared in nineteenth-century medicine and the popular imagination. It was becoming clearer then, that the skin was an anatomical organ equipped with its own pathological and physiological characteristics [te Hennepe, 2014, p. 546].The Times newspaper correspondence column on the inquest into the death of Private White, upon which this contribution focuses, furnishes an illustrative case study of how a newspaper could marshal information about the skin's anatomy.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reading dermatology in the Victorian newspaper. The performance of medical vocabulary in The Times correspondence column

Garrisi¹

2017

JCOM

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“…12 My discussion here can only be brief, and I will concentrate on Topham. But there is a wider literature on these issues, including Secord (2000), Henson et al (2004), Cantor et al (2004). 13 See, for example, Nancy Fraser (1990Fraser ( , 1997.…”

Section: Politics and The Public Spherementioning

confidence: 99%

Popper, Objectification, and the Problem of the Public Sphere

Shearmur

2016

Philosophy of the Social Sciences

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Shearmur argues for the importance of Popper’s ideas about World 3, and against the idea that they should be re-interpreted in social terms. However, he also argues for the importance of Popper’s ideas about methodological rules—and that these may be given a partially social interpretation. The content of our ideas may in consequence differ from what we take it to be, as a consequence of our institutions and practices operating as methodological rules. He also explores related ideas about the interplay between World 3 and social factors in connection with Darnton’s ideas about the book and work that has built on it, and related issues about the public sphere and the problem of effective deliberative feedback on public policy.

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“…In the past 20 years, there has been a growing scholarly interest in historiographical approaches exploring the lay press as a source and tool for understanding popular science and medicine. In Victorian Britain, periodicals and newspapers constituted a place of contention and exchange of scientific ideas and contributed to the formation of public opinion towards science (Cantor et al, 2004; Henson et al, 2004). Newspapers published articles on medical disputes and activities that were designed to arouse public opinion on health matters (Richardson, 1992: 90).…”

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confidence: 99%

Christmas 1864: death from bedsores in a workhouse–the politics of wound care, the media and social reform in Victorian London

Garrisi

2018

Public Underst Sci

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Culture And Science in the Nineteenth-Century Media

Cited by 22 publications

References 0 publications

Reading dermatology in the Victorian newspaper. The performance of medical vocabulary in The Times correspondence column

Reading dermatology in the Victorian newspaper. The performance of medical vocabulary in The Times correspondence column

Popper, Objectification, and the Problem of the Public Sphere

Christmas 1864: death from bedsores in a workhouse–the politics of wound care, the media and social reform in Victorian London

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