Assembling Arguments: Multimodal Rhetoric and Scientific Discourse

302 Pages·2016·39.42 MB·English

by  Jonathan Buehl

Assembling Arguments
Studies in Rhetoric/Communication
Thomas W. Benson, Series Editor
Assembling
Arguments
Multimodal Rhetoric &
Scientific Discourse
Jonathan Buehl

The University of South Carolina Press
© 2016 University of South Carolina
Published by the University of South Carolina Press
Columbia, South Carolina 29208
www.sc.edu/uscpress
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
can be found at http://catalog.loc.gov/
ISBN 978-1-61117-561-5 (cloth)
ISBN 978-1-61117-562-2 (ebook)
The lyrics reproduced from Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now”
on P. 139 are used with permission.
BOTH SIDES NOW
Words and Music by JONI MITCHELL
© 1967 (Renewed) CRAZY CROW MUSIC.
All Rights Administered by SONY/ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING,
8 Music Square West, Nashville, TN 37203.
All Rights Reserved
For Gretchen
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Contents
Series Editor’s Preface / ix
Acknowledgments / xi
Part 1
Motives and Methods for a Multimodal Rhetoric of Science / 1
1 Scientific Visuals: Rhetorical Potential and Rhetorical Problems / 3
2 Toward a Multimodal Rhetoric of Science / 13
Part 2
X-Ray Diffraction Crystallography / 41
3 From Agreements to Images: The Rhetorical Foundations of X-Ray
Crystallography / 43
4 From Images to Arguments: Assembling a Multimodal Argument in 1912 / 56
5 From Arguments to Alternatives: Rhetorical Recirculation in 1912 / 75
Part 3
Seafloor Spreading / 89
6 Mapping Motion through Magnetism: The Rhetorical Conception of the
Vine-Matthews-Morley Hypothesis / 91
7 From Artifact to Argument to Object of Agreement: The Assembly and
Circulation of Magnetic Anomaly Maps / 102
8 From Profiles to Timelines: The Assembly and Circulation of World-Moving
Arguments / 122
Part 4
The Twilight Zone between Clouds and Aerosols / 137
9 Naming the Sky: Rhetorical Definitions and Atmospheric Science / 139
10 Revising the Twilight Zone: The Assembly of a Multimodal Scientific
Dissociation / 149
11 Tracking the Twilight Zone: The Circulation of a Multimodal Dissociation / 167
viii Contents
Part 5
Image Editors and Moving Images: Technologies of
Argumentation / 187
12 Learning from the Era When Science Met Photoshop: Toward an Ethical Rhetoric
of the Digital Scientific Image / 189
13 Integrating Moving Images into Scientific Arguments: From “Pseudomovies” to
“See Movie 1” / 210
14 Assembling Lessons from Assembling Arguments / 243
Bibliography / 253
Index / 269
Series Editor’s Preface
In Assembling Arguments, Jonathan Buehl observes that since scientific argument is
typically presented both verbally and visually, a multimodal rhetoric of scientific argu-
ment is needed to account for and to refine the methods of scientific argumentation.
Professor Buehl develops a model for multimodal scientific argument intended to be
useful both for philosophers and historians of science and for scientists who are
themselves seeking to develop persuasive scientific arguments. The model is derived
from and put to the test in an analysis of five cases of multimodal scientific argument:
X-ray diffraction crystallography; sea-floor spreading as the mechanism of continental
motion; the review and revision process of a study, relevant to climate change, of a
concept of twilight zones between clouds and aerosols; the ethical problems of adjust-
ing images for presentation; and the affordances created by new possibilities for digital
distribution of moving images as part of scientific persuasion.
The detail, variety, and comprehensiveness of Buehl’s close readings in the case
studies themselves provide a model for analysis. Assembling Arguments is richly illus-
trated, both illuminating and exemplifying the principles of argument that Buehl seeks
to discover and communicate. More than this, Buehl offers a clearly stated framework,
based on rhetorical principles, to guide other such studies and the creation of multi-
modal scientific arguments.
Thomas W. Benson