In this thesis I will argue that popularized science books should adhere to normative criteria regarding the presentation, interpretation, and understanding of the natural sciences. The increasing popularity of popular science texts (PSTs) - based on sales, critical notice, and scholarly attention - indicates that they can function to interest and partially educate the lay public in scientific principals and practices. I will identify and analyze the narrative, rhetorical features of two popular science texts: Douglas Adams' Last Chance to See and Alan Lightman's Einstein's Dreams. These texts are selected based on a series of normative criteria, criteria constructed for the purpose of enhancing the public understanding of science. Additionally, these criteria are needed to help the lay public develop a proper appreciation of science. A proper appreciation of science, I argue, enables people to make better informed decisions regarding their own personal welfare and also that of the natural world. Finally, a proper appreciation of science, stimulated by PSTs, may help both scientists and the lay public reconceive the possibilities of narrative, public writing, and civic discourse. / Master of Arts

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This thesis aims to explore the paradoxes and unintended consequences of China’s official Legal Popularization Campaign, the so-called pufa yundong (普法运动) , which was not only aimed to popularize the current laws, but tries to combine legal action with political ideology. In doing so, this thesis will analyze and reveal the socio-political background in which the campaign has been pursued and implemented over the last thirty years across China. What I want to explore is whether this campaign is a reaction to the crisis of legitimacy by the Communist government, or is seen as a remedial measure to counter lawlessness typically found in contemporary Chinese society. As a result, the campaign can be viewed in the light of the modern doctrine of the rule of law, upon which the New China as a nation-state could be built. Ironically, both political propaganda and sincere legal efforts are mixed together. In this way, it is not hard to understand that paradoxes have arisen as well as unintended consequences with variable outcomes.

<p>This BA thesis examines how the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet writes about celebrities.Our questions were: How much does Aftonbladet write about celebrities? What kind ofcelebrities does Aftonbladet write about? In which context do celebrities appear inAftonbladet? We have also studied how these matters have changed since 1978.In our research we have used quantitative content analysis. We have analyzed a total of 956articles about celebrities from 1978, 1988, 1998 and 2008. We chose to analyze articles fromtwo synthetic weeks each year.We have used theories about celebrity culture, popularization and personalization and alsoabout public and private in our analyze.Our conclusions were that Aftonbladet has written a lot of articles about celebrities for a longtime, but the articles about celebrities in Aftonbladet have increased by 170 percent since1978.The number of articles that Aftonbladet has written dealing with the private life of celebritieshas not changed much at all since 1978. This was something that surprised us because weexpected that Aftonbladet would write more about the private life of celebrities in 2008 thanin 1978.</p>

This BA thesis examines how the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet writes about celebrities.Our questions were: How much does Aftonbladet write about celebrities? What kind ofcelebrities does Aftonbladet write about? In which context do celebrities appear inAftonbladet? We have also studied how these matters have changed since 1978.In our research we have used quantitative content analysis. We have analyzed a total of 956articles about celebrities from 1978, 1988, 1998 and 2008. We chose to analyze articles fromtwo synthetic weeks each year.We have used theories about celebrity culture, popularization and personalization and alsoabout public and private in our analyze.Our conclusions were that Aftonbladet has written a lot of articles about celebrities for a longtime, but the articles about celebrities in Aftonbladet have increased by 170 percent since1978.The number of articles that Aftonbladet has written dealing with the private life of celebritieshas not changed much at all since 1978. This was something that surprised us because weexpected that Aftonbladet would write more about the private life of celebrities in 2008 thanin 1978.

Esta dissertação de Mestrado tem como objetivo central produzir novas compreensões sobre o fenômeno epistemológico do discurso científico veiculado pela mídia impressa nacional e suas implicações na educação. Mais especificamente, consiste em um relatório de pesquisa realizada em duas etapas. Na primeira, faz-se uma análise das concepções epistemológicas subjacentes a reportagens sobre Física de três revistas brasileiras de generalidades: Época, Isto É! e Veja. Na segunda, faz-se uma avaliação de suas implicações no âmbito da educação científica, de modo geral, e no ensino de ciências, em específico. A análise é feita por meio do método de análise textual discursiva, da qual emergiram três domínios de entendimento: Questões do Método Científico, Questões de Representatividade e Questões Sociológicas da Ciência. Em seguida, avaliam-se as implicações desses domínios no âmbito educacional, comparando-os com resultados de pesquisas da mesma área e refletindo sobre suas possíveis consequências na educação científica. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-05-29T16:05:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Gabriel Abreu Mussato.pdf: 2676532 bytes, checksum: 84310ccb86bf21c8c2b67d3bbbea0f86 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-29T16:05:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Gabriel Abreu Mussato.pdf: 2676532 bytes, checksum: 84310ccb86bf21c8c2b67d3bbbea0f86 (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul / This dissertation main to produce new insights of the epistemological phenomenon of the Brazilian printed media scientific discourse and their implications for education. More specifically, it consists in a two steps investigation report. The first step is an epistemological concepts analysis of three Brazilian magazines Physics reports: Época, IstoÉ! and Veja. The second step is an assessment of its implications in the context of science education in general and science education in particular. The analysis is done through the discursive textual analysis method, which emerged three domains of understanding: Issues of Scientific Method, Issues of Representation and Sociological Issues of Science. Then evaluate their implications in the educational domain comparing them with the results of other investigation in the same area and reflecting on its possible consequences in science education.

Esta dissertação de Mestrado tem como objetivo central produzir novas compreensões sobre o fenômeno epistemológico do discurso científico veiculado pela mídia impressa nacional e suas implicações na educação. Mais especificamente, consiste em um relatório de pesquisa realizada em duas etapas. Na primeira, faz-se uma análise das concepções epistemológicas subjacentes a reportagens sobre Física de três revistas brasileiras de generalidades: Época, Isto É! e Veja. Na segunda, faz-se uma avaliação de suas implicações no âmbito da educação científica, de modo geral, e no ensino de ciências, em específico. A análise é feita por meio do método de análise textual discursiva, da qual emergiram três domínios de entendimento: Questões do Método Científico, Questões de Representatividade e Questões Sociológicas da Ciência. Em seguida, avaliam-se as implicações desses domínios no âmbito educacional, comparando-os com resultados de pesquisas da mesma área e refletindo sobre suas possíveis consequências na educação científica. / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul / This dissertation main to produce new insights of the epistemological phenomenon of the Brazilian printed media scientific discourse and their implications for education. More specifically, it consists in a two steps investigation report. The first step is an epistemological concepts analysis of three Brazilian magazines Physics reports: Época, IstoÉ! and Veja. The second step is an assessment of its implications in the context of science education in general and science education in particular. The analysis is done through the discursive textual analysis method, which emerged three domains of understanding: Issues of Scientific Method, Issues of Representation and Sociological Issues of Science. Then evaluate their implications in the educational domain comparing them with the results of other investigation in the same area and reflecting on its possible consequences in science education.

In this thesis I develop a contemporary history of memetics, or the field dedicated to the study of memes. Those working in the realm of meme theory have been generally concerned with developing either evolutionary or epidemiological approaches to the study of human culture, with memes viewed as discrete units of cultural transmission. At the center of my account is the argument that memetics has been characterized by an atypical pattern of growth, with the meme concept only moving toward greater academic legitimacy after significant development and diffusion in the popular realm. As revealed by my analysis, the history of memetics upends conventional understandings of discipline formation and the popularization of scientific ideas, making it a novel and informative case study in the realm of science and technology studies. Furthermore, this project underscores how the development of fields and disciplines is thoroughly intertwined with a larger social, cultural, and historical milieu. / Master of Science

This thesis explores the use of religious language, metaphors, and images in the popular presentation of cosmology. Specifically looking at books written by cosmologists and intended for a lay audience, I argue that these religious appeals present a particular model, or picture, of cosmology to the public. Through the religious language, metaphors, and images, the texts create scientific-religious imagery which gives cosmology and cosmologists religious functions (e.g., the metaphor of cosmologists as priests). Taking these images together, the texts present a model in which cosmology performs like a religion -a model of Cosmology-as-Religion. Thus, the religious appeals appropriate religious authority through cosmology's assumption of religious functions. However, the texts also contain arguments justifying cosmology and the need for its continued financial support. The texts link these justificatory arguments to the scientific-religious imagery, and this associates the texts' appropriation of religious authority with the justificatory arguments. As a result, the appropriated functions give cosmology additional social benefits, providing a socio-religious context to the arguments. This, in turn, increases cosmology's importance to society. In this way, the religious appeals help legitimate the justification of cosmology. / Master of Science

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This thesis was developed as part of the CNPq projects No. 301962/2007-3 Análise crítica de gêneros com foco em artigos de popularização da ciência (MOTTA-ROTH, 2007), and CNPq No. 301793/2010-7 Análise crítica de gêneros discursivos em práticas sociais de popularização da ciência (MOTTA-ROTH, 2010), concerning the critical analysis of science popularization genre. From an interdisciplinary perspective of analysis, we take as reference the theoretical principles of Systemic Functional Linguistics (HALLIDAY 1994, HALLIDAY, MATTHIESSEN, 2004), Critical Discourse Analysis (FAIRCLOUGH, 1995, 2001, for example) and Sociorethoric (BAZERMAN, 2005; SWALES, 1990, for example), in order to perform an analysis of the science popularization news genre published by the magazines Ciência Hoje Online and Galileu. Our aim is to identify which concept of science is built discursively in 30 science popularization news and identify which sense effect this concept generates for the process of science popularization, investigating their conditions of production, distribution and consumption, by investigating their conditions of production, distribution and consumption. The theoretical and methodological approach used is guided by the three dimensions of analysis suggested by Fairclough (2001): description, interpretation and explanation. In the textual description, we describe and interpret the rhetorical organization of the science popularization genre. We also verify possible register variations. Based on the linguistic categories which are part of the the Engagement Subsystem, we observed how quotes and reports are used to position social actors whose voices are inserted in the news in the form of manifest intertextuality. The results indicate that there are no variations in terms of rhetorical organization in the news analyzed. These texts follow the model of the inverted pyramid, and seem to be short copies of releases and speeches from the scientists who had performed the researchers reported in the news.Another aspect observed concerns a trend towards a conclusive and cumulative view of the results. Regarding genre register variations, we observed that Ciência Hoje Online tends to follow the world of science, through the appropriation of typical discursive patterns of science, and Galileu tends to follow the world of life, through the appropriation of typical discursive patterns of everyday language. We also noticed that the process of dialogic expansion is predominant, but the lack of varied perspectives on popularized scientific discoveries restricts the science popularization discourse to the scientific sphere, in the sense of a discursive homogeneity. The exclusivity of a social actor mentioned by means of manifest intertextuality thus refers to a concept of science built on these texts as a product, result of the effort of an individual, not considering the network of conversations of scientists and hypotheses and controversies that constitutes the nature of scientific activity. / Esta tese de doutorado foi desenvolvida no âmbito dos projetos CNPq No. 301962/2007-3 Análise crítica de gêneros com foco em artigos de popularização da ciência (MOTTA-ROTH, 2007) e CNPq No. 301793/2010-7 Análise crítica de gêneros discursivos em práticas sociais de popularização da ciência (MOTTA-ROTH, 2010) referentes à análise crítica de gêneros de popularização da ciência. A partir de uma perspectiva interdisciplinar de análise, tomamos como referência princípios teóricos da Linguística Sistêmica Funcional (HALLIDAY, 1994; HALLIDAY, MATHIESSEN, 2004), da Análise Crítica do Discurso (FAIRCLOUGH, 1995, 2001, por exemplo) e da Sociorretórica (BAZERMAN, 2005; SWALES, 1990, por exemplo), a fim de realizar uma análise crítica do gênero notícia de popularização da ciência publicado pelas revistas Ciência Hoje Online e Galileu. Nosso objetivo é identificar que conceito de ciência é construído discursivamente em 30 notícias de popularização da ciência e inferir que efeito de sentido esse conceito gera para o processo de popularização da ciência, investigando as suas condições de produção, distribuição e consumo. A abordagem teórico-metodológica empregada é orientada pelas três dimensões de análise sugeridas por Fairclough (2001): descrição, interpretação e explicação. Na descrição textual, descrevemos e interpretamos a organização retórica do gênero notícia de popularização da ciência. Também verificamos possíveis variações de registro nesse gênero. Com base nas categorias linguísticas que compõem o Subsistema de engajamento, observamos o modo como os recursos de citação e relato são usados de forma a posicionar atores sociais cujas vozes são inseridas nas notícias na forma de intertextualidade manifesta. Os resultados indicam que não há variações, em termos de organização retórica, nas notícias analisadas. Esses textos seguem o modelo da pirâmide invertida, e parecem se reduzir a cópias de trechos de releases e as falas dos cientistas que realizaram a pesquisa reportada na notícia. Desse modo, entendemos que o conhecimento científico produzido nesses textos pode ser considerado uma descomplicada coletânea dos resultados da pesquisa noticiada. Esse fato identifica a popularização da ciência como uma disseminação e interpretação do conhecimento científico para o público não especialista , nos termos da crítica de Hilgartner (1990) e Myers (2003). Outro aspecto observado diz respeito à tendência a uma visão conclusiva e cumulativa dos resultados da pesquisa. Em relação às variações de registro do gênero analisado, observamos que a Ciência Hoje Online tende a alinhar-se ao mundo da ciência, por meio da apropriação de padrões discursivos da ciência, enquanto a Galileu, ao mundo da vida, por meio da adoção de padrões discursivos do cotidiano. Verificamos também que o processo de expansão dialógica é predominante, porém, a ausência de perspectivas variadas sobre a descoberta científica popularizada restringe o discurso de popularização da ciência à esfera científica, há uma homogeneidade discursiva. A exclusividade de um ator social mencionado por meio da intertextualidade manifesta remete, portanto, a um conceito de ciência construído nesses textos como um produto; resultado do esforço de um indivíduo, não considerando a rede de conversas entre cientistas e as hipóteses e controvérsias que constituem a natureza da atividade científica.