Joseph E. Harmon is senior technical communicator at Argonne National Laboratory. Alan G. Gross is professor in the Department of Rhetoric at the University of Minnesota. Together, they coauthored Communicating Science: The Scientific Article from the 17th Century to the Present.
"In the introduction to this anthology, editors Joseph Harmon and
Alan Gross describe the work as a sort of' 'Michelin Guide' to the
development of the scientific article over the past four centuries.
Their description is apt in that, like most guide books, The
Scientific Literature offers highlights, interesting anecdotes, and
recommendations rather than presenting its readers with much in the
way of actual examples. (Alas, it does not offer a ratings system.)
As befits a volume that grew out of an exhibition at the libraries
of the University of Chicago, significant attention is devoted to
such visual elements as tables, equations, and illustrations that
have accompanied scientific texts since the scientific journal's
birth in the 17th century. Although the selections are somewhat
idiosyncratic and the excerpts all too brief, the editors'
excellent sense of the telling detail make this volume a pleasure
to dip into or to read from cover to cover."--Audra Wolfe "Chemical
Heritage"
"There are now many historical and sociological studies of
scientific communication. Joseph Harmon and Alan Gross's book, The
Scientific Literature, is something different--neither a research
monograph on the history of scientific writing nor a
straightforward compilation of excerpts. . . It includes about 125
examples of scientific writing taken from papers, books, reviews
and Nobel speeches, and covers materials from the seventeenth
century up to the announcement of the rough draft of the human
genome in 2001....These scientific snippets are embedded in strands
of editorial commentary describing, highlighting and interpreting.
The tone is genial: the 'guided tour' doesn't threaten arduous
intellectual adventure. Rhetorical terms are explained, scientific
authors are identified, and pertinent scientific contexts are
introduced."--Steven Shapin "Nature" (8/16/2007 12:00:00 AM)
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