The development of scientific writing; linguistic features and historical context.(Brief article)(Book review)

9781845533168

The development of scientific writing; linguistic features and historical context.

Banks, David.

Equinox Publishing Limited

2008

221 pages

$35.00

Paperback

PE1475

Banks (English linguistics, U. de Bretagne Occidentale, France) traces changes in the linguistic features of scientific writing in English from Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe (1391) to the present. Much of the study takes a 1700-1980 corpus of articles from the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society as its object of study. The use of the passive and first person pronouns are examined over time and differences between the physical and biological sciences are explored. Also discussed are changes in grammatical metaphor, thematic structure, and thematic progression. Out of this discussion emerges an argument concerning the importance of scientific context (for example whether the science is primarily observational or experimental or whether it makes extensive use of mathematical modeling) on the use of language. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co.

([c]2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR)

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