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What are the implications for Americans when actors who play doctors on television endorse medical products, or when an entire town in the Midwest prepares for an earthquake based on the specious advice of a zoologist? These are just two of the many questions Christopher Toumey asks in his investigation of the role of science in American culture. Toumey focuses on the ways in which the symbols of science are employed to signify scientific authority in a variety of cases, from the selling of medical products to the making of public policy about AIDS/HIVa practice he calls "conjuring" science. It is this "conjuring" of the images and symbols of scientific authority that troubles Toumey and leads him to reflect on the history of public understanding and perceptions of science in the United States. He argues that while most Americans invest a great deal of authority in science, there is a vacuum of understanding about scientific knowledge. This gap between belief and understanding greatly influences public policy decisions and democratic processes. Toumey argues that instead of comprehending scientific knowledge, methods, or standards, most Americans know science only in terms of symbo

Author

Toumey, Christopher P., 1949-

Publisher

New Brunswick, N.j. : Rutgers University Press, C1996.

Published

1996

Language

EN

ISBN

9780813522852

Subjects

Anthropology, Science, Philosophy