Give Me Technology: Rhetorical Strategies in Scientific Writing

In order for scientific breakthroughs to directly impact the general public, abstract ideas, theories and discoveries must be effectively transformed into real technologies which, when applied, benefit everyday life. Similarly, scientific literature uses the conventions of rhetoric to translate sheer unintelligible data into a wide understanding of its meanings and implications. The public " s complete awareness of innovative science is necessary for its acceptance and incorporation into daily life. As technology progresses from initial discovery to real world application, its broadcast through various forms of literature changes as well. Experimental scientists, writers of academic journals, and the media work together in a network to increase science " s comprehensive scope. The communication of new ideas is dependent upon this network of writers. At one end lie the scientists who are responsible for developing experiments, collecting data, interpreting it, and then formulating conjectures and conclusions from their research. At the opposite end of the spectrum lie the journalists and reporters who focus their writing on the significance and implications of new science for the public. Each group has a different persuasive purpose and caters to a vastly different audience. In order to relay information accurately from their sources to their readers, these groups employ appropriate modes of rhetoric in their writing. Rhetoric serves as a translational tool that modulates the information that a writer takes in and recasts it for a specific reader.