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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Selected Works

Communication

2015

Scientific rhetoric

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Owning A Virus: The Rhetoric Of Scientific Discovery Accounts, Carol Reeves Aug 2015

Owning A Virus: The Rhetoric Of Scientific Discovery Accounts, Carol Reeves

Carol Reeves

No Abstract Available


An Orthodox Heresy: Scientific Rhetoric And The Science Of Prions., Carol Reeves Aug 2015

An Orthodox Heresy: Scientific Rhetoric And The Science Of Prions., Carol Reeves

Carol Reeves

A significant theoretical shift in the research community examining a class of terminal, infectious neurological disorders that includes Mad Cow Disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and Kuru was assisted by rhetorical production. The local rhetoric of one laboratory, that of Professor Stanley B. Prusiner, involved first situating an heretical hypothesis within the framework of the orthodox narrative and then audaciously promoting that heresy. Another aspect of rhetorical production in this case involved situating a new language associated with the heretical hypothesis. To promote their new lexicon, the Prusiner team evoked orthodox values of consistency, efficiency, and collective ratification. Eventually, what was once …


The Language Of Science, Carol Reeves Aug 2015

The Language Of Science, Carol Reeves

Carol Reeves

With more and more scientific language being applied -and misapplied- in our daily lives, this title from the Intertext series explores the use of scientific terms through hot topics from the MMR vaccine to AIDS and biological weapons.


Establishing The Phenomenon: The Rhetoric Of Early Research Reports On Aids, Carol Reeves Aug 2015

Establishing The Phenomenon: The Rhetoric Of Early Research Reports On Aids, Carol Reeves

Carol Reeves

In the first three medical reports on AIDS which were published in 1981 in the New England Journal of Medicine, the writers' primary rhetorical agenda was to argue that a new medical discovery had been made. A secondary agenda was to offer etiological explanations for the new problem. To establish the new disease entity as deserving serious attention, the writers built a sense of mystery by confronting established medical knowledge about immunodeficiency and emphasizing the inability of modern medicine to diagnose and treat the problem. When they explained the phenomenon in etiological terms, rather than confronting the disciplinary matrix, the …