rhetoric of conclusions

Categories: Site glossary

It has been argued that there is a tendency for science text books to present canonical scientific ideas as clearly following for the available evidence including critical/crucil tests, and so being evicently superior to the ideas they replaced or competed with. This usually simplifies the process of scientific progress and ignores how the evidence available may have appeared from within the contemporary context. The 'rhetoric of conclusions' then is a kind scientific 'whig history' – a history of science written from the persepctive of the 'winners'.

Author: Keith

Former school and college science teacher, teacher educator, research supervisor, and research methods lecturer. Emeritus Professor of Science Education at the University of Cambridge.