Metaphor and Knowledge
The Challenges of Writing Science
Alternative formats available from:
Analyzing the power of metaphor in the rhetoric of science, this book examines the use of words to express complex scientific concepts.
Description
Metaphor and Knowledge offers a sweeping history of rhetoric and metaphor in science, delving into questions about how language constitutes knowledge. Weaving together insights from a group of scientists at the Santa Fe Institute as they shape the new interdisciplinary field of complexity science, Ken Baake shows the difficulty of writing science when word meanings are unsettled, and he analyzes the power of metaphor in science.
Ken Baake is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Technical Communication at Texas Tech University.
Reviews
"A real glory in this book is Baake's engaging presentation. . . He is able to write in ways that engage and propel the reader along on a highly enjoyable excursion. . . The text is populated with the voices and perspectives of his subjects, always showing them [to be] thoughtful and complex, even as they take diametrically opposed positions. " — from the Foreword by Stephen A. Bernhardt
"Whenever scientists are involved in interdisciplinary projects to simulate phenomena of complex physico-chemical, biotic, or socio-economic systems, they are bound to face communication problems while applying basic disciplinary terms and using metaphors for their conceptual models. The situation at Santa Fe Institute given here is representative for any science research group working on the 'frontier. '" — Charlotte Kaempf, University of Karlsruhe
"The concept of metaphor harmonics represents an original and productive way of thinking. These and a number of other findings and concepts are likely to make a big splash. No books address the problem of metaphor in the rhetoric of science quite like this one. " — M. Jimmie Killingsworth, coauthor of Information in Action: A Guide to Technical Communication, Second Edition