How to Bridge the Gap between Science and Art

Title: How to Bridge the Gap between Science and Art

Hosted by: Lawrence Souder lawrencesouder@gmail.com

Presenter: Lawrence Souder, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Drexel University

This presentation will attempt to show one way to bridge the gap between science and art—two approaches to knowledge that often seem separate. I offer the rhetoric of science as a means to bridge the gap. This scholarly discipline studies the ways in which scientists communicate with each other and with their fellow non-scientists. Rhetoric itself is one of the original seven liberal arts and began in ancient Greece as the practice of persuasion in public settings. By the 20th and 21st centuries, rhetoric had evolved into a means of formal criticism of discourse of any kind. Thus, the rhetoric of science focuses on the discourse of scientists. In this presentation, I will show a few examples of my own research in which I attempt to critique the discourse among scientists.  In particular, I will highlight three not-so-laudable moments when:

• Scientists have publicly apologized for their research misconduct
• Scientists have personally verbally attacked their fellow scientists
• Scientists have made outrageous claims only to admit later that they were kidding