Jean,
You also might want to consider The Scientific Voice by Scott L.
Montgomery (1996). It's more a collection of Montgomery's articles on
scientific discourse than a textbook, but it might complement another
text quite nicely. Chapters include: 1. The Cult of Jargon:
Reflections on Language in Science; 2. In equal number of words:
Notes for a history of scientific discourse; 3. Illness and image: An
essay on the contents of biomedical discourse; 4. Expanding the
earth: Seeing and naming the skies ... etc.
If you're interested, I can also pass along the titles of others
books on metaphors in science and the rhetoric of science (some of
which have been mentioned already). What you'll likely find is that
an all-inclusive textbook is hard to find on the subject; you might
have to put together a book of readings. Unfortunately, Randy
Harris' (Ed.) Landmark Essays on the Rhetoric of Science is out of
print..
The editor's blurb for Montgomery's book (taken from amazon.com) is
below:
"Scientific practice is inherently shaped by the language in which it
was created, and language is shaped by the culture that has produced
it. It can be said that the history of science is as much a history
of writers as it is of experiments. The Scientific Voice traces
scientific discourse through time and across cultures (examining its
character, evolution, and cultural origins) to demonstrate the
profound influence of language on scientific thought, discovery, and
progress throughout history. Drawing on examples from a range of
disciplines, Scott Montgomery shows how the choice of language and
metaphors used in science can lead to different scientific insights."
Cheers,
Rebecca Carruthers Den Hoed
University of Calgary
---
"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is
the difference between lightning and a lightning bug." -- Mark Twain
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