From the first Babylonian astronomical records on cuneiform to the public understanding of science on television, the various media have long been crucial to the success and spread of science. This course provides a history of science in the media from the ancient and medieval use of geometrical diagrams, astronomical figures and anatomical illustration through early modern printed texts, popular broadsheets and color botanical plates all the way to the ubiquity of science in literature, cinema and on the Internet. This expanding presence of science in the media is examined against the backdrop of three revolutions: literary and artistic (ancient and medieval worlds), mechanical (early modern period) and electronic (contemporary age). Specific themes considered include the increasing accuracy of scientific illustration, the rise of scientific journals, public scientific demonstrations, science in poetry and prose fiction, science and art, radio and television documentaries, the advertising and marketing of science, scientific apocalypses and techno-utopias, bioethics, Soviet era technological iconography, environmentalism and science-religion relations in the journalistic press, science fiction from H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds to Star Wars and Jurassic Park, and science in computing and cyberspace.
