Science Popularization

Starting from the seminal experience of James Prescott Joule, this paper aims to debate the possibility of “making” science outside universities and academies. Joule himself studied as an autodidact and did not make his own discoveries while following an academic path; on the contrary, at first, the associations and academic societies of the time tended not to recognize his works officially. All of this happened throughout the nineteenth century during the period of the first relevant tendency to science popularization. For example, looking at the second half of the England of the 1800s, we can refer to Michael Faraday’s open lessons for children like The Chemical History of a Candle. Following this perspective from a historical view, this paper explores the Italian attempts to communicate science—from the ‘50s to the ‘70s—to a larger public via television and other media, also considering the political and social backgrounds behind this choice. In particular, this paper also deals with Lucio Lombardo Radice’s work on TV programs and writings in social-political journals and daily newspapers, as a mathematician and pedagogist engaged on the importance of what he specifically called “Scientific mediation”, as a “method” to teach and popularize science to a larger public.

In this paper on university conflicts I discuss how Galician Ukrainians perceived the German-Italian conflict at the university of Innsbruck during the early 20th century. I suggest the relevance of this knowledge for organizational as well as political strategies implemented in Lemberg/L'viv/Lwów.
Open access to the complete book: https://diglib.uibk.ac.at/urn:nbn:at:at-ubi:3-5384
The list of references was integrated in collective bibliography, pp. 215-236.

This paper deals with the new formulae of science communication throughout comics. Based on the specific case study of the work Neurocomic (2014) by Matteo Farinella and Hana Ros, the adaptation of the format to the principles of science dissemination and popularization is evaluated, as well as a change of roles in the scientific-researchers to much more multidisciplinary profiles that require communication skills and competencies.

If most academic debates surrounding the recent boom of ancient DNA (aDNA) so far have concerned conflicting research epistemologies, this article is a call for taking aspects of media and communication more seriously. Analyzing the fates of two recent research papers on Viking Age Scandinavia, we show how aDNA research is communicated, narrated and infused with meaning in the public sphere, particularly in relation to popular narratives and political debates. We observe significant interlacing of scientific, political and media discourses in and around the papers, and conclude that archaeogenetics is a highly mediatized scientific field.

Resumen | Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna fue un prolífico escritor y colaborador de la prensa chilena durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, y dentro de este quehacer dedicó varias páginas a asuntos científicos. Este trabajo analiza sus textos dedicados al saber astronómico, los
que no han sido estudiados de manera específica anteriormente. La hipótesis busca demostrar que el propósito principal de Vicuña Mackenna al pronunciarse sobre astronomía en la prensa fue defender la popularización de esta ciencia, así como de otras disciplinas científicas. La perspectiva del análisis considera las propuestas de James Secord y Agustí Nieto-Galan, quienes afirman que la ciencia no sólo debe concebirse como una práctica en la que participan
instituciones formales, sino también diversos grupos que componen la sociedad, siendo relevantes los “públicos” de la ciencia en cuanto agentes activos de generación de conocimiento.

Abstract | Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna was a prolific writer and collaborator of the Chilean press during the second half of the 19th century, and within this task he devoted several pages to scientific issues. This paper analyzes his texts dedicated to astronomical
knowledge, many of them which had not been specifically studied before. The hypothesis seeks to demonstrate that Vicuña Mackenna’s main purpose, when talking about astronomy in the press, was to defend the popularization of this science, as well as other scientific disciplines. The perspective of this analysis considers the works of James Secord and Agusti Nieto-Galan, who affirm that science should not only be conceived as a practice in which
formal institutions participate, but also diverse groups that make up society, the “publics” of science being relevant as active agents in the generation of knowledge.

Resumo | Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna foi um prolífico escritor e colaborador da imprensa chilena durante a segunda metade do século XIX e, nessa tarefa, dedicou várias páginas a assuntos científicos. Este artigo analisa seus textos dedicados ao conhecimento astronômico
que não foram estudados especificamente antes. A hipótese busca demonstrar que o principal objetivo de Vicuña Mackenna em pronunciar-se sobre a astronomia na imprensa era defender a popularização dessa ciência, bem como de outras disciplinas científicas. A perspectiva da análise considera as propostas de James Secord e Agustí Nieto-Galan, que afirmam que a ciência não deve ser concebida apenas como uma prática da qual participam instituições formais, mas também diversos grupos que compõem a sociedade, sendo relevante o “público” da ciência como agentes ativos da geração de conhecimento.

Znanstveno-edukativni i popularni program pod nazivom Prapovijesno lončarstvo: interdisciplinarnost i eksperiment organiziran je u sklopu programa popularizacije znanosti koji se provodi u suradnji Centra za eksperimentalnu arheologiju, Instituta za arheologiju i Odsjeka za arheologiju Filozofskoga fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, financiranoga od strane Ministarstva znanosti i obrazovanja RH. Cilj je kroz više znanstvenih disciplina te brisanjem granica među njima, sinergijom znanja iz arheologije, geologije i etnologije, shvatiti čitav postupak proizvodnje keramičkih posuda u prošlosti, a glavna metoda za postizanje ciljeva je arheološki eksperiment. Cilj programa je i sveobuhvatnije razumjeti arheološku građu kako bi se znanja mogla kvalitetnije primijeniti, ali i prenijeti javnosti.

Resumen | Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna fue un prolífico escritor y colaborador de la prensa chilena durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, y dentro de este quehacer dedicó varias pági-nas a asuntos científicos. Este trabajo analiza sus textos dedicados al saber astronómico, los que no han sido estudiados de manera específica anteriormente. La hipótesis busca demos-trar que el propósito principal de Vicuña Mackenna al pronunciarse sobre astronomía en la prensa fue defender la popularización de esta ciencia, así como de otras disciplinas científicas. La perspectiva del análisis considera las propuestas de James Secord y Agustí Nieto-Galan, quienes afirman que la ciencia no sólo debe concebirse como una práctica en la que participan instituciones formales, sino también diversos grupos que componen la sociedad, siendo rele-vantes los "públicos" de la ciencia en cuanto agentes activos de generación de conocimiento. Palabras clave | Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna; astronomía; popularización de la ciencia; Chile; siglo XIX. Verónica Ramírez-Errázuriz-Patricio Leyton-Alvarado Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna and Science: Defender of Popular Astronomy in Chile at the end of the 19 th Century Abstract | Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna was a prolific writer and collaborator of the Chilean press during the second half of the 19 th century, and within this task he devoted Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna y la ciencia 71-102

The present paper explores the entanglements between the practice of science popularization and the diffusion of racial classification theories in the second half of the nineteenth century Romania. Therefore, the study traces how official naturalists and intellectuals were involved in promoting race and gender categories, which were delivered in popular versions at the cultural platform of the Romanian Athenaeum of Bucharest. In contrast with the authority of recognized members of the high-class society, the paper also turns to the lesser-known counterpublics, identified as the anarchist popularizers of science, which frequently challenged the legitimacy of the official public discourse.

O presente trabalho propõe estudar como o documentário, apresentado num formato interativo, pode ser utilizado para a divulgação de assuntos científicos, em especial de astronomia. Para isso realizamos o protótipo de um docugame, híbrido entre do- cumentário multimídia e jogo interativo, em que, com a ajuda de três personagens, o usuário faz uma viagem lúdica pelo Sistema Solar em busca do Planeta Perdido, aprendendo sobre conceitos de astronomia ao longo do caminho. O jogo foi testado e está disponível em http://www.mast.br/docugames-planeta-perdido/planeta- perdido/index.html#ABERTURA . Para analisar as potencialidades do documentá- rio interativo na divulgação científica, o autor do presente trabalho pretende se de- bruçar no modelo de engajamento público proposto por Brossard e Lewenstein (2010) a fim de traçar um paralelo com o modo de interatividade participativo sugeri- do por Gaudenzi (2013).

The aim of this study is to explore a neglected episode in the history of Romanian encounters with racial classifications theories, before and during the mid-nineteenth century. The study begins with a brief historiographic discussion. Then, the paper continues with the illustration of the recent debates concerning the definitions of the origins of scientific racism, as portrayed by Stephen Jay Gould and Nicolaas Rupke. Accordingly, the paper identifies three suggestive case studies (Iacob Cihac, Iuliu Barasch, Dimitrie Ananescu), which might shed some light on the intellectual roots of racial classifications in Romania. Placing the investigation within the emerging studies of science popularization, the paper argues that naturalists and physicians alike, trained and influenced by the German tradition of Natürphilsohphie, were the ones to express their authority in reproducing and diffusing racial classifications and gendered concepts of reproduction. Finally, these debates were further legitimized by the outcomes of the famous "hippocampus controversy" that reinforced hierarchical classifications of human varieties.

This article discusses the lantern at the nineteenth-century fairground as a mobile but hidden technology and elucidates the role of this optical medium in the transnational circulation of visual culture by focussing on one particular but exemplary case: the Théâtre Courtois and the Théâtre Grandsart-Courtois. This Belgian fairground family travelled during five generations around European fairgrounds from the early nineteenth until the beginning of the twentieth century. Their programmes were very diverse, combining magic with science and technology, music, dance and acrobatics. On their travels they picked up new technological developments and ideas that were particularly suited for show business and introduced them in their shows: from projection with lanterns, through the use of electric light to the intro- duction of the cinematograph at Belgian, Dutch and French fairs. Relying on international fairground networks, they thus contributed to the circulation of visual culture between European cities and at annual fairs in smaller towns and villages. By considering these family theatres as actors of cultural transfer, and the lantern as a transcultural mediator, this article illustrates the variety and complexity of their mediating roles.

Brotéria was founded in 1902 as a taxonomy journal of a small Jesuit college in the interior of Portugal. Because the revenue from individual subscriptions was insufficient to cover the costs of publication, Joaquim da Silva Tavares decided to create a magazine in 1907 called Vulgarização científica, which became very popular. Especially designed to make a profit, the journal published more than 450 articles on agriculture, commerce, industry, chemistry, physics, medicine, and hygiene until 1924, and played a very significant role in disseminating knowledge of these subjects to a non-specialist Portuguese readership. Full paper available here (open access): https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/7/2/article-p221_221.xml