Abstract

This study examines the representations of nanoscale science and technology in written popular media from 1986 to 1999. Nanoscale science is an emergent field that examines the principles of matter at a molecular level. This article presents the representations through which nanoscale science and technology was initially introduced to the public. Written popular media influences the ways stakeholder groups perceive, support, and fund science and technology. From 1986 to 1999 this field was introduced to the general public through articles in newspapers, magazines, and other general interest publications. During this period, nanoscale science and technology had a fragmented public image as proponents of various representations of the field competed for legitimacy. The study demonstrates that the emergence of nanoscience and technology in the popular media occurred as a competitive and transitional social–rhetorical process in which the new emerged within existing and established understandings of science but was mediated by biographical and other social accounts of the research.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2006-04-01
DOI
10.1207/s15427625tcq1502_2
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (7)

  1. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Show all 7 →
  1. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly

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