Marketing knowledge for the general reader: Victorian popularizers of science

Popular Science as a Means of Emotional Engagement with the Scientific Community

“…Some believe that the gap between the scientists and the public was a result of deliberate and detrimental actions of a small group of scientists led by T.H. Huxley (see, for example, Lightman 2000). As Lightman (2000: 101) sees it, scientists of the 1890s tried to secularize science by separating it from what he calls "elements that previously had connected public and scientific culture, including anthropomorphic, anthropocentric, teleological and ethical views of nature."…”

“…As such, they favored "detached language, heavily spiced with complex scientific terms" designed to ensure the exclusion of non-experts from the discourse (Lightman 2000: 101). Lightman (2000) following Myers (1990) proposes that such use of language disguised the narrativity of scientific writing thus presenting scientific results as entirely objective and untainted by human interference. Topham (2000), similarly to Lightman (2000) suggests that the separation of the public from the scientific community that occurred in the 19 th century was the result of deliberate boundary work on the part of the scientists, but, unlike Lightman, he does not mention any one scientist specifically.…”

“…Lightman (2000) following Myers (1990) proposes that such use of language disguised the narrativity of scientific writing thus presenting scientific results as entirely objective and untainted by human interference. Topham (2000), similarly to Lightman (2000) suggests that the separation of the public from the scientific community that occurred in the 19 th century was the result of deliberate boundary work on the part of the scientists, but, unlike Lightman, he does not mention any one scientist specifically. Instead, Topham (2000: 560) attributes the change to "epistemological and rhetorical shifts" that resulted in emphasis on expertise instead of experience and positioned scientific discoveries "as the preserve of scientific 'genius'" rather than as an activity open to anyone.…”

“…However, the division has not always been there, and science as a social category has not always been regarded as a domain of specialized knowledge inaccessible to average citizens. Current research on popularization of science often cites examples of active public involvement in the 18 th and the first half of the 19 th centuries, when sciences were accessible to lay persons and, in fact, attracted many amateurs who ended up making scientific contributions (see for example, Bensaude-Vincent, 2001;Lightman, 2000;Topham 2000). Bensaude-Vincent (2001: 102) calls them "enlightened amateurs."…”

The Proctor-Parkes Incident: Politics, Protestants and Popular Astronomy in Australia in 1880

“…Proctor thought that Airy's arrangements would not provide answers to the scientific questions at stake, such as the tests suggested by Proctor to help resolve the question of the corona. When Proctor, assecretary of the British Astronomical Society, published a critique of Airy it was too much: Proctor was forced to resign27 . Proctor had come to feel that government support for scientific research, while admirable in principle, inevitably led to corruption in practice; he believed that scientists should be more entrepreneurial and be able to live off their public writing as he, and a few other scientists like Huxley could do28 .…”