Developments and trends in the rhetoric of science: science, rhetoric, culture

As a totality, the contributions to this issue demonstrate that examining the rhetoric of science functions as a powerful heuristic approach to scientific reasoning as well as a strategy for negotiating science in (Western) culture. This approach extends far beyond the mere presentation of facts and results. Rather, it emphasises that representations need to make science meaningful for diversified audiences from different academic backgrounds and cultures. Globalised communication in the twenty-first century seems to be evolving towards a ‘new’ New Rhetoric of science. What the articles in this issue have in common is the centrality of the text and the discursive practices that are typical of presentations of scientific knowledge, whether they are specialised or popular or are presented in fictional contexts. The essays make an effort to go beyond the mere formalisms and argumentative circularity that characterise some linguistic analysis, while at the same time avoiding the subjectivism and lack of empirical foundation that mark certain cultural approaches to science. Pursuing an interest in interdisciplinary scholarship,23 we hope that this issue will suggest a promising way of engaging with English Studies.