Science And Narratives Of Nature

The discourse and practice of science are deeply connected to explicit and implicit narratives of nature. However, nature has been understood in diverse ways by cultures across the world. Could these different views of nature generate the possibility of alternate views on science? Part of the innovative series Science and Technology Studies, this volume looks at different conceptualizations of nature and the manner in which they structure the practice of the sciences. The essays draw upon philosophy, history, sociology, religion, feminism, mathematics and cultural studies, and establish a dialogue between cultures through a multi-disciplinary exploration of science. With contributions from major scholars in the field, this volume will deeply interest scholars and students of science and technology studies; sociology, history and philosophy of science; as also environmental studies.

"The discourse and practice of science are deeply connected to explicit and implicit narratives of nature. However, nature has been understood in diverse ways by cultures across the world. Could these different views of nature generate the possibility of alternate views on science' Part of the innovative series Science and Technology Studies, this volume looks at different conceptualizations of nature and the manner in which they structure the practice of the sciences. The essays draw upon philosophy, history, sociology, religion, feminism, mathematics and cultural studies, and establish a dialogue between cultures through a multi-disciplinary exploration of science. With contributions from major scholars in the field, this volume will deeply interest scholars and students of science and technology studies; sociology, history and philosophy of science; as also environmental studies."--Provided by publisher.

The discourse and practice of science are deeply connected to explicit and implicit narratives of nature. However, nature has been understood in diverse ways by cultures across the world. Could these different views of nature generate the possibility of alternate views on science? Part of the innovative series Science and Technology Studies, this volume looks at different conceptualizations of nature and the manner in which they structure the practice of the sciences. The essays draw upon philosophy, history, sociology, religion, feminism, mathematics and cultural studies, and establish a dialogue between cultures through a multi-disciplinary exploration of science. With contributions from major scholars in the field, this volume will deeply interest scholars and students of science and technology studies; sociology, history and philosophy of science; as also environmental studies.

Narrative Science examines the use of narrative in scientific research over the last two centuries. It brings together an international group of scholars who have engaged in intense collaboration to find and develop crucial cases of narrative in science. Motivated and coordinated by the Narrative Science project, funded by the European Research Council, this volume offers integrated and insightful essays examining cases that run the gamut from geology to psychology, chemistry, physics, botany, mathematics, epidemiology, and biological engineering. Taking in shipwrecks, human evolution, military intelligence, and mass extinctions, this landmark study revises our understanding of what science is, and the roles of narrative in scientists' work. This title is also available as Open Access.

Communicate more effectively about science—by taking a page from Hollywood and improving your storytelling skills. Ask a scientist about Hollywood, and you’ll probably get eye rolls. But ask someone in Hollywood about science, and they’ll see dollar signs: Moviemakers know that science can be the source of great stories, with all the drama and action that blockbusters require. That’s a huge mistake, says Randy Olson: Hollywood has a lot to teach scientists about how to tell a story—and, ultimately, how to do science better. With Houston, We Have a Narrative, he lays out a stunningly simple method for turning the dull into the dramatic. Drawing on his unique background, which saw him leave his job as a working scientist to launch a career as a filmmaker, Olson first diagnoses the problem: When scientists tell us about their work, they pile one moment and one detail atop another moment and another detail—a stultifying procession of “and, and, and.” What we need instead is an understanding of the basic elements of story, the narrative structures that our brains are all but hardwired to look for—which Olson boils down, brilliantly, to “And, But, Therefore,” or ABT. At a stroke, the ABT approach introduces momentum (“And”), conflict (“But”), and resolution (“Therefore”)—the fundamental building blocks of story. As Olson has shown by leading countless workshops worldwide, when scientists’ eyes are opened to ABT, the effect is staggering: suddenly, they’re not just talking about their work—they’re telling stories about it. And audiences are captivated. Written with an uncommon verve and enthusiasm, and built on principles that are applicable to fields far beyond science, Houston, We Have a Narrative has the power to transform the way science is understood and appreciated, and ultimately how it’s done.

This collection of essays explores two traditions of interpreting and manipulating nature in the early-modern and nineteenth-century Iberian world: one instrumental and imperial, the other patriotic and national. Imperial representations laid the ground for the epistemological transformations of the so-called Scientific Revolutions. The patriotic narratives lie at the core of the first modern representations of the racialized body, Humboldtian theories of biodistribution, and views of the landscape as a historical text representing different layers of historical memory.

The study of narratives in a variety of disciplines has grown in recent years as a method of better explaining underlying concepts in their respective fields. Through the use of Narrative Policy Framework (NPF), political scientists can analyze the role narrative plays in political discourse.

Debunking myths behind what is known collectively as the new cosmology—a grand, overlapping set of narratives that claim to bring science and spirituality together—Lisa H. Sideris offers a searing critique of the movement’s anthropocentric vision of the world. In Consecrating Science, Sideris argues that instead of cultivating an ethic of respect for nature, the new cosmology encourages human arrogance, uncritical reverence for science, and indifference to nonhuman life. Exploring moral sensibilities rooted in experience of the natural world, Sideris shows how a sense of wonder can foster environmental attitudes that will protect our planet from ecological collapse for years to come.

The primary goal of Everday Thoughts about Nature is to understand how typical ninth-grade students and their science teachers think about Nature or the natural world, and how their thoughts are related to science. In pursuing this goal, the book raises a basic question about the purpose of science education for the public. Should science education seek to educate `scientific thinkers' in the pattern of science teachers? Or, should science education seek to foster sound science learning within the matrices of various cultural perspectives? By carefully examining the ideas about Nature held by a group of students and their science teachers, Cobern argues that the purpose of science education for the public is `to foster sound science learning within the matrices of various cultural perspectives'. Cobern's two books, World View Theory and Science Education Research and now Everyday Thoughts about Nature, provide complementary accounts of theoretical and empirical foundations for worldview theory in science education. While many graduate students and researchers have benefited from his earlier work, many more will continue to benefit from this book.

UPDATED 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION WITH 2020 PREFACE An examination of the Scientific Revolution that shows how the mechanistic world view of modern science has sanctioned the exploitation of nature, unrestrained commercial expansion, and a new socioeconomic order that subordinates women.