The Ancient Mythology of Modern Science
A Mythologist Looks (Seriously) at Popular Science Writing
Description
Humans have long been captivated by mythology and theorized about the lessons embedded in their tales. In The Ancient Mythology of Modern Science, Gregory Schrempp brings a mythologist's critical eye to popular science writing, a flourishing genre that forms a key link between science and popular consciousness. Schrempp argues that the defining and appealing characteristic of this genre is not simplification or "dumbing-down," but the attempt to parlay scientific findings into aesthetically and morally compelling visions that offer guidance for humanity. Schrempp argues that in striving for inspirational visions, popular science invariably reproduces - with ingenious invention - the structures, strategies, and cosmic imagery that infuse traditional mythological views of the cosmos. His claim challenges the widespread tendency to separate myth and science. Schrempp considers both the intellectual history of mythography and concrete examples from world mythologies including ancient Greek, Oceanic, and Native American. Schrempp's explorations span a range of fields, including astronomy, evolutionary biology, and cognitive science. In a world informed, transformed, and sometimes mesmerized by science, this book offers the first in-depth study of popular science writing from a mythologist's perspective.
Reviews
"This audience for this book is anyone who loves to get lost in a book, or anyone who likes casting a satisfied 'yes' as he considers the myths we live by as well as the new-old myths currently in the making. This is a book that respects its audience, and never preaches." Michael Olmert, University of Maryland
“[The Ancient Mythology of Modern Science] is a brave, ambitious, and admirable work of scholarship. It has enthralled, perplexed, piqued, entertained, and instructed me in turn. It will appeal to folklorists, anthropologists, ethnologists, readers of cul