Ebook: Science Communication in the World: Practices, Theories and Trends

This volume is aimed at all those who wonder about the mechanisms and effects of the disclosure of knowledge. Whether they have a professional interest in understanding these processes generally, or they wish to conduct targeted investigations in the PCST field, it will be useful to anyone involved in science communication, including researchers, academics, students, journalists, science museum staff, scientists high public profiles, and information officers in scientific institutions.

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The wonders of science have a powerful hold on the imagination, yet the challenge of conveying to the public the expanding frontiers of human scientific knowledge grows daily more complex. This analysis of the process has three goals. First, to offer a survey of research conducted in the field of public communication of science and technology (PCST) over the past four decades, in a range of countries. Then—and this second ambition is enabled by the preceding one—it identifies and focuses on the researchers’ varying methods and perspectives. While all countries have, at times and to varying degrees, embarked on extremely ambitious policies to promote and valorize scientific and technical culture, the objectives they pursue must be understood and assessed within specific national contexts. This fact has guided our conceptualization of problems as well as our search for solutions. Our third and final ambition is to establish the trends implicit in these efforts.

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The wonders of science have a powerful hold on the imagination, yet the challenge of conveying to the public the expanding frontiers of human scientific knowledge grows daily more complex. This analysis of the process has three goals. First, to offer a survey of research conducted in the field of public communication of science and technology (PCST) over the past four decades, in a range of countries. Then—and this second ambition is enabled by the preceding one—it identifies and focuses on the researchers’ varying methods and perspectives. While all countries have, at times and to varying degrees, embarked on extremely ambitious policies to promote and valorize scientific and technical culture, the objectives they pursue must be understood and assessed within specific national contexts. This fact has guided our conceptualization of problems as well as our search for solutions. Our third and final ambition is to establish the trends implicit in these efforts.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xxv
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
The ‘Communicative Turn’ in Contemporary Techno-science: Latin American Approaches and Global Tendencies....Pages 3-17
The Evolution of Science Communication Research in Australia....Pages 19-32
The Development of Science Communication Studies in Canada....Pages 33-63
Science Popularization Studies in China....Pages 65-79
Policy Perspective on Science Popularization in China....Pages 81-94
Deliberation, Dialogue or Dissemination: Changing Objectives in the Communication of Science and Technology in Denmark....Pages 95-108
Social Sciences and the Communication of Science and Technology in France: Implications, Experimentation and Critique....Pages 109-123
The Recent Public Understanding of Science Movement in Germany....Pages 125-138
Public Understanding of Science: Glimpses of the Past and Roads Ahead....Pages 139-150
Whose Science? What Knowledge? Science, Rationality and Literacy in Africa....Pages 151-168
An Experience of Science Communication in Korea: The Space-Sharing Project with Mass Media....Pages 169-179
From Science Popularization to Public Engagement: The History of Science Communication in Korea....Pages 181-191
Spanish PCST and the European Science in Society Strategy....Pages 193-209
Science Museums and Cultural Images of Modernity: Scientific Communication, New Identities and Sociopolitical Constraints on Science Museums in Spain....Pages 211-224
Front Matter....Pages 225-225
Slowly But Surely: How the European Union Promotes Science Communication....Pages 227-240
Vital and Vulnerable: Science Communication as a University Subject....Pages 241-257
Visible Scientists, Media Coverage and National Identity: Nobel Laureates in the Italian Daily Press....Pages 259-268
Engagement: The Key to the Communicative Effectiveness of Science and Ideas....Pages 269-279
From Public to Policy....Pages 281-294
Science Culture and Its Indicators....Pages 295-312
Back Matter....Pages 313-317

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The wonders of science have a powerful hold on the imagination, yet the challenge of conveying to the public the expanding frontiers of human scientific knowledge grows daily more complex. This analysis of the process has three goals. First, to offer a survey of research conducted in the field of public communication of science and technology (PCST) over the past four decades, in a range of countries. Then—and this second ambition is enabled by the preceding one—it identifies and focuses on the researchers’ varying methods and perspectives. While all countries have, at times and to varying degrees, embarked on extremely ambitious policies to promote and valorize scientific and technical culture, the objectives they pursue must be understood and assessed within specific national contexts. This fact has guided our conceptualization of problems as well as our search for solutions. Our third and final ambition is to establish the trends implicit in these efforts.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xxv
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
The ‘Communicative Turn’ in Contemporary Techno-science: Latin American Approaches and Global Tendencies....Pages 3-17
The Evolution of Science Communication Research in Australia....Pages 19-32
The Development of Science Communication Studies in Canada....Pages 33-63
Science Popularization Studies in China....Pages 65-79
Policy Perspective on Science Popularization in China....Pages 81-94
Deliberation, Dialogue or Dissemination: Changing Objectives in the Communication of Science and Technology in Denmark....Pages 95-108
Social Sciences and the Communication of Science and Technology in France: Implications, Experimentation and Critique....Pages 109-123
The Recent Public Understanding of Science Movement in Germany....Pages 125-138
Public Understanding of Science: Glimpses of the Past and Roads Ahead....Pages 139-150
Whose Science? What Knowledge? Science, Rationality and Literacy in Africa....Pages 151-168
An Experience of Science Communication in Korea: The Space-Sharing Project with Mass Media....Pages 169-179
From Science Popularization to Public Engagement: The History of Science Communication in Korea....Pages 181-191
Spanish PCST and the European Science in Society Strategy....Pages 193-209
Science Museums and Cultural Images of Modernity: Scientific Communication, New Identities and Sociopolitical Constraints on Science Museums in Spain....Pages 211-224
Front Matter....Pages 225-225
Slowly But Surely: How the European Union Promotes Science Communication....Pages 227-240
Vital and Vulnerable: Science Communication as a University Subject....Pages 241-257
Visible Scientists, Media Coverage and National Identity: Nobel Laureates in the Italian Daily Press....Pages 259-268
Engagement: The Key to the Communicative Effectiveness of Science and Ideas....Pages 269-279
From Public to Policy....Pages 281-294
Science Culture and Its Indicators....Pages 295-312
Back Matter....Pages 313-317
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