The Ancient Mythology of Modern Science: A Mythologist Looks (Seriously) at Popular Science Writing

315 Pages·2012·6.518 MB·English

by  Gregory Schrempp

THE ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY OF MODERN SCIENCE
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THE ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY OF
MODERN SCIENCE
A Mythologist Looks (Seriously) at Popular
Science Writing
GREGORY SCHREMPP
McGill-Queen’s University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca
© McGill-Queen’s University Press 2012
ISBN 978-0-7735-3989-1
Legal deposit second quarter 2012
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free
(100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free
McGill-Queen’s University Press acknowledges the support of the
Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also
acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada
through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities. We are
grateful for additional support toward this book provided through
a Grant-in-Aid from the Office of the Vice Provost for Research of
Indiana University (Bloomington).
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Schrempp, Gregory Allen, 1950–
The ancient mythology of modern science : a mythologist looks
(seriously) at popular science writing / Gregory Schrempp.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7735-3989-1
1. Religion and science. 2. Mythology. 3. Science news. I. Title.
BL240.3.S33 2012 201'.65 C2011-907843-0
Typeset by Jay Tee Graphics Ltd. in 10.5/13 Sabon
For Nina
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Contents

Preface xi
Introduction: Centaurs and Scientists 3
1 Mythologizing Matter: On Myth, Popular Science, and the Problem
of Centric Knowledge 12
2 It Had to Be You! Fire without Prometheus 35
3 Randomness and Life: Sobering Lessons from the Drunkard’s
Walk 72
4 Copernican Kinship: An Origin Myth for the Category 109
5 Descartes Descending or the Last Homunculus: Introversive
Anthropomorphizing in Popular Science Writing 151
6 Once More, with Feeling! The View from the Moon and the Return
of the Copernican Revolution 190
Conclusion: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained: How Scientists
Save Myth 222
Notes 233
References 277
Index 293
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List of Illustrations

2.1 Barrow’s figure. The masses and sizes of some of the most
significant structures found in the Universe. From John D. Barrow,
The Artful Universe (Oxford University Press, 1995), Figure 3.1
(p. 49 in Chapter 3 Size, life, and landscape). By permission of
Oxford University Press. 45
2.2 The fuel brigade. The ability of small beings to carry loads
many times our own weight assured our victory in the quest to
domesticate fire. Ryszard Laskowski/Dreamstime. 61
3.1 The statistical curve of distribution. Line drawing by Adrian
Galwin. 74
3.2 Gould’s figure 29. The frequency distribution for life’s complexity
becomes increasingly right skewed through time, but the bacterial
mode never alters. From Full House by Stephen Jay Gould,
copyright © 1996 by Stephen Jay Gould. Used by permission of
Harmony Books, a division of Random House, Inc. 77
6.1 Earthrise. Earth as photographed from the moon by Apollo 8.
Courtesy of NASA. 190
6.2 Family portrait. Earth and other planets as photographed by the
Voyager probe as it left the solar system. Courtesy of NASA. 190