Science and Popular Culture

9321061 Eamon科学史在很大程度上是一部“伟人”的历史，他们发展了“伟大的理论”或做出了最激动人心的发现。关于艾萨克·牛顿、查尔斯·达尔文和阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦的传记不胜枚举。他们的论文被发表，理论--甚至是科学革命--都以他们的名字命名。虽然普通大众当然知道这些伟人，但他们几乎从来没有理解过他们提出的理论。取而代之的是，他们接受了诸如占星术、神创论和神秘学等流行理论。美国的立法机构通过法律，支持在学校中提出创世论，而整个文化都在咨询占星家关于重要事件的适当时间。就连美国第一夫人也咨询了一位专家，以决定她的丈夫应该在什么时候举行首脑会议。科学与这种流行文化的关系是什么？如果我们要了解科学和技术在我们社会中的作用，我们必须研究我们科学界认为正确的科学理论与吸引流行文化注意的理论之间的关系。伊蒙教授正在研究的正是这种关系。具体地说，埃蒙教授正在研究意大利科学文化和流行文化之间的关系，重点是意大利外科医生和自然哲学家莱昂纳多·菲奥拉万蒂的生活、职业和知识环境。菲奥拉凡蒂借鉴了科学文化和大众文化的思想和实践，并发展了一种反映两者的经验主义自然哲学。他在一系列关于医学、自然哲学和社会批评的八本广为阅读的书籍中普及了他的“经验科学”。通过展示菲奥拉凡蒂如何理解(有时被误解)学术科学和医学，以及他如何将其与自己的经历相结合，伊蒙教授希望探索科学的文化挪用动态，以及“大众科学”的创造，后者以一种非常扭曲的意义反映了他那个时代领先科学家的理论。

9321061 Eamon The history of science is largely the history of "great men" who develop the "great theories" or make the most exciting discoveries. Numerous biographies have been written about Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein. Their papers are published; theories-- indeed, even scientific revolutions--are named after them. While the general public certainly knows of these great men, they hardly ever understand the theories which they presented. Instead, they embrace such popular theories as astrology, creationism, and the occult. Legislatures in the United States pass laws to support the presentation of creationism in the schools while whole cultures consult astrologers about appropriate times for important events. Even the first lady of the United States consulted one in order to determine when her husband should hold summit conferences. What is the relationship of science and this popular culture? If we are to understand the role of science and technology in our society, we must examine how scientific theories that we in the scientific community accept as correct relate to theories that capture the attention of popular culture. It is this relationship that Professor Eamon is examining. Specifically, Professor Eamon is examining the relationship between scientific and popular cultures in Italy, focusing on the life, career, and intellectual milieu of the Italian surgeon and natural philosopher Leonardo Fioravanti. Fioravanti appropriated ideas and practices from both scientific and popular cultures, and developed an empiricist natural philosophy that reflected both. He popularized his "science of experience in a series of eight widely read books on medicine, natural philosophy, and social criticism. By showing how Fioravanti understood (and sometimes misunderstood) academic science and medicine, and how he integrated it with his experiences, Professor Eamon hopes to explore the dynamics of cultural appropriation of science and the crea tion of "popular science" that mirrors in a very distorted sense the theories of the leading scientists of his day. ***