Science, Bread, and Circuses
eBook - ePub

Science, Bread, and Circuses

Folkloristic Essays on Science for the Masses

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Science, Bread, and Circuses

Folkloristic Essays on Science for the Masses

About this book

In Science, Bread, and Circuses, Gregory Schrempp brings a folkloristic viewpoint to the topic of popular science, calling attention to the persistence of folkloric form, idiom, and worldview within the increasingly important dimension of popular consciousness defined by the impact of science.
 

Schrempp considers specific examples of texts in which science interpreters employ folkloric tropes—myths, legends, epics, proverbs, spectacles, and a variety of gestures from religious tradition—to lend credibility and appeal to their messages. In each essay he explores an instance of science popularization rooted in the quotidian round: variations of proverb formulas in monumental measurements, invocations of science heroes like saints or other inspirational figures, the battle of mythos and logos in parenting and academe, how the meme has become embroiled in quasi-religious treatments of the problem of evil, and a range of other tropes of folklore drafted to serve the exposition of science.

Science, Bread, and Circuses places the relationship of science and folklore at the very center of folkloristic inquiry by exploring a range of attempts to rephrase and thus domesticate scientific findings and claims in folklorically imbued popular forms.

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Yes, you can access Science, Bread, and Circuses by Gregory Schrempp in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Folklore & Mythology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Contents
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Introduction
  6. 1 Formulas of Conversion: A Proverbial Approach to Astronomic Magnitudes
  7. 2 Leonardo and Copernicus at Aspen: How Science Heroes Can Improve Your Bottom Line
  8. 3 Opening the Two Totes: Mythos and Logos in the Contemporary Agora-sphere
  9. 4 Taking the Dawkins Challenge: On Fairy Tales, Viruses, and the Dark Side of the Meme
  10. 5 The Biggest Losers: A Sensible Plan for Controlling Your Cosmic Appetite
  11. 6 It’s a Wonderfully Conflicted Life! The Survival of Mythology in the Capra-Corn Cosmos
  12. 7 Departures from Earth I: The Ferris Wheel and the Deep-Space Probe
  13. 8 Departures from Earth II: The Reason(s) for the Tragedy of Space Shuttle Columbia
  14. 9 “Goodbye Spoony Juney Moon”: A Mythological Reading of Tom Stoppard's Jumpers
  15. 10 Is Lucretius a God? Epic, Science, and Prescience in De Rerum Natura
  16. References
  17. Filmography
  18. About the Author
  19. Index