This volume brings together selected papers from an interdisciplinary conference focused on effective and appropriate communication of science in the often-heated controversies characteristic of contemporary democracies. The forty essays represent cutting-edge work from rhetorical and communication theorists studying the practices and norms of public discourse and science communication, philosophers interested in the informal logic of everyday reasoning and in the theory of deliberative democracy, and science studies scholars examining the intersections between the social worlds of scientists...

This volume brings together selected papers from the fourth interdisciplinary conference at Iowa State University focused on effective and appropriate communication of science. The over thirty essays represent cutting-edge work from rhetorical and communication theorists studying the practices and norms of public discourse and science communication and science studies scholars examining the intersections between the social worlds of scientists and citizens. Topics include the theory and practice of public participation exercises involving experts and lay publics, considerations of social...