Description: Contemporary popular science and related genres repeatedly invoke science and myth as opposites: science gives us truth to replace the charming but false conceptions of traditional mythologies. We improve our world and ourselves through science. In this enlightening pamphlet, Gregory Schrempp argues that the real dynamic of such literature moves in the opposite direction: in attempted fusions of the appeal of science with that of myth. Schrempp explores the myth-science mixtures served up by a number of well-known writers, including Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Pollan. In four provocative vignettes, Schrempp presents new insights on what general readers "really want" from science, and what contemporary authors strive to give them.
Brief description: Gregory Schrempp is professor of folklore and codirector of the mythology studies program at Indiana University Bloomington. He is the author of four books, including, most recently, The Ancient Mythology of Modern Science and Science, Bread, and Circuses.