[14] patterns involving larger numbers of community is perceived as one of the participants in comparative major sources of power in studies.2 contemporary society.

T~e final sociological approach A different tradition of work on focuses on the individual scientist scientific writing, not so visible rather than the specialty or larger to readers of this journal, comes social system of science. In order out of applied language studies. to account for scientific activity The fields of technical writing, without considering science as any composition, and English for different from any of the other specific purposes, have begun communal activities that looking into the character, role, sociologists study, investigators in and acquisition of written language this approach have concerned skills within scientific and themselves with how individuals and technological communities in order groups advance their interests to prepare students linguistically within the scientific community. for such careers. Accordingly, analysis has aimed at deconstructing the naive "scientific Technical writing until recently account" of the meaning of defined its task in ahistorical, scientific texts, and showing how asociological terms: to foster scientific communications advance clear, precise, efficient personal interests. Features of communication in essentially fixed language indicating persuasion, genres. Following this tradition indexicality, and other forms of and bolstered by the plain language social presentation of the self are movement, the Document Design Center most readily found in individual in the United States and the Primary texts and case studies, for at this Communications Research Unit in level of analysis we can most Britian promote and disseminate readily see the hand-to-hand combat studies into formats and styles most of individual and group readily understood.5 Recently in advancement.3 technical writing, however, some attention has turned to the actual This latter approach has strong ties role played by writing in technical to a broader sociolinguistic organizations, the writing choices movement to analyse community made by technical writers, and the organization and interaction through processes by which they make these the study of discourse, sometimes choices. Questionnaire, interview, associated with ethnomethodology as and observation studies have begun well as with an interests/power to reveal the social dynamics of model of interactions. Oral technical communication--that language has generally received most writers are strategic social of this kind of attention, but reasoners, that texts are indexical written language has recently been forms of social action, and that looked at more. Service writing processes are shot through professions--such as law, medicine, with collaborative and agonistic clinical psychology, and social social processes.6 Recently, as work-- which establish through well, the writing across the interactions a power relationship curriculum movement has made between professional and client have particular disciplinary forms of provided the primary research writing an issue for all teachers of sites.4 One motive for examining writing. Studies in composition are scientific discourse within this beginning, largely following the tradition is that the scientific cognitive psychology model, which [15] has dominated composition research particularly poignant in nineteenth in the last decade. As in the century studies. The movement techni'cal writing studies, towards seeing scientific writing as investigation into the process has literary creations has been aided by begun to reveal its socially contemporary theories of literature imbedded quality. 7 which have devalued referentiality and thus returned scientific texts English for specific purposes, a to the realm of human imaginative specialization of English as a constructions, though more subtle second language, in general follows formulations that go beyond the a linguistic model. It treats primitive opposition of naive scientific English as a special positivism and naive relativism have register of standard English, yet to be made forcefully. Such incorporating particular more subtle formulations, I believe, vocabularies and grammatic/syntactic are necessary to defined the special features. Catalogues of such characteristics of scientific texts features in different disciplines which maintain referential ambitions and professions--gathered with an whether or not they achieve the instructional aim--provide epistemological magic of referential suggestive comparative material certainty. 10 about the character of communication in different fields, as do a few A limited amount of work has explicitly comparative studies. attempted to bridge the three Studies of the strategic rhetorical approaches presented so far: social use of particular linguistic studies, applied language, and features, such as the use of verb literary. The purveyors of this tense in reviews of literature to work have had literary training and indicate evaluative attitudes, also thus are aware of the complexity of shed light on the dynamics of textual meaning and the variety of communication.8 Recent interest in dimensions on which meaning is the larger forms of organization and conveyed. In attempting to address genre and in the kinds of contextual more practical issues of knowledge to be gained from composition, they have seen the informants, again suggests a growing necessity of providing a richer interest in a historical, socially description of the kinds of texts active understanding of texts.9 the students are being taught to write and of the processes of Literary studies provides a third creating these texts. To help tradition recently taking notice of enrich their understanding of text scientific writing. Scientific and process, they have turned to texts, particularly the more overtly social studies of science and have evocative ones such as The Origin of adopted ...sociological models of Species, are now being examined as scientific community. Their special forms of literature, as are analyses reveal how the complex scientific popularizations. Studies features of text and textual change of the cross-influences of science embody and realize social and literature which previously had dynamics. 11 been most concerned with the influence of science on imaginative Individuals in both the history and writing have started to look at the philosophy of science have, as well, influence of literary practice on been drawn to the reexamination of scientific formulation. This classic scientific texts, driven by connection between scientific and issues and dynamics of their own imaginative literature has seemed fields. In the history of science, [16] the deepening understanding of the formulation. Perelman most variety of intellectual projects explicitly reopens rhetoric as the engaged in by scientists and the centerpiece in the understanding of changing intellectual and social human rationality. 13 contexts which individual scientists have worked in has led to a more In philosophy's rediscovery of the rhetorical understanding of certain importance of rhetoric, texts. That is, the texts are no contemporary rhetoricians (in longer seen as a series of American universities exiled to propositions to be placed within the speech departments for the last framework of emerging scientific half-century) have regained vigor knowledge, but are rather seen as and started to engage in philosophic integrated wholes, imaginative combat on behalf of their position. constructs portraying complex world In only a few instances however, has views (which would lead to more this resulted in close rhetorical humanistic literary readings), but analyses. Most notable has been even more, most recently as Campbell's studies of Darwin's particular ways of addressing the rhetorical situation and rhetorical world, audience and problems (which response. 14 might be thought of as situated rhetorical readings)--seeing the Perhaps the largest potential symbolic formulations as a result of impetus for textual studies of epistemology, local disputes, and knowledge these days lies in social relations.12 practitioners of various disciplines who, by various means, have come to The philosophy of science has also be interested in the discourse of given rise to a few attempts to look their own field with the aim of at scientific texts as complex somehow improving work in their communicative documents, written field. These individuals range in documents embodying choices. These their stance from the meticulous studies have been driven by the more craftsman who simply wishes to general philosophic problem of understand his linguistic tools, to rationality and rational procedures, the sensible human who wishes to get which seem increasingly hard to find his colleagues to understand they in the complex world of actual human are only speaking in prose, to the relations and even harder to tie ironic critic who would puncture the down in the world of abstractions. prose balloons, to the radical In the turn to history and actual reformer who would create new ones. practice to see what procedures The social sciences have been more scientists and other people engaged interested in this linguistic in rational enterprises engage in, self-examination than the natural the fine grain of textual structure sciences in the past twenty years, and textual interactions gain new largely motivated by internal significance. Rather than trying to debates over what the character of a reduce scientific formulation to a science of human behavior and limited set of abstracted interaction should be. "acceptable procedures" there is a new attempt to discover the full Anthropology has undergone the most complexity and variety. Toulmin, thoroughgoing self examination of and Kuhn, Fleck, Popper each discuss its rhetoric, particularly the production of knowledge within concerning the character and scientific communities, raising authority of ethnography. Geertz central questions about the most visibly reopened the question patterns, habits, and procedures of of how to write ethnography--how to [17J

is no seen capture the lives of others on Scientific writing longer paper, and the effect of different as a simple, undifferentiated descriptive techniques on the phenomenon that gains its character character of anthropological by a direct correspondence with the knowledge. The debate opened by facts of nature. The social actions Geertz has widened to consider the and relations embodied in scientific complex of social and political texts have gained increasing relations realized in ethnographies. attention, and the knowledge Questions have proliferated. For symbolically captured in the text what communities are the texts needs to be understood through the written and for what purpose? Where intellectual, rhetorical, does authority in ethnographical linguistic, and social procedures by reporting come from? What is the which that knowledge is created and proper literary role (as both author framed. Local context and and character) of both historical background shape the text anthropologist and informant? What and define available choices for is the kind of cultural knowledge symbolic representation. Individual one can properly (intellectually and and disciplinary control of the morally) convey? What are the power writing seems to require mastery of consequences of different forms of these social, historical, and texts? What is anthropology that it symbolic issues as they manifest produces ethnographies ?15 themselves in the smallest textual features. Scientific writing Other social sciences have not appears to be a multi-dimensional produced such a thoroughgoing game, with the game and available literary self-examination, but have moves changing form through time. been the subject of more scattered analyses. In sociology, Brown Although one can imagine, as I have proposes a more ironic language for in the previous paragraph, how the sociology; Gusfield understands the various pieces of work may fit literature on drunk driving research together to suggest a deepened view in dramatic rhetorical terms--that of scientific writing, none of the is, he treats the emergence of a separate lines of study can by scholarly literature itself as a itself move to such a comprehensive social-historical phenomenon; view. As long as scientific writing Bennett, in a similar vein considers remains only a secondary problem, the role of the genre of oral subordinated to other disciplinary history within criminology. In a interests, each field will maintain series of papers on economics, a narrow focus on specific features McCloskey points out, despite an and functions of scientific writing. overt disciplinary ideology of Scientific writing must be seen as a scientific objectivity and formal problem area in itself. logic, economists actually argue in Furthermore, none of the disciplines ways best described by the terms of has the range of concepts and tools classical rhetoric. Elsewhere in to develop the integrated picture. the social sciences, from political The study of writing, rhetoric, science to theology, the rhetorical linguistics, sociology, history, issues in the framing of knowledge philosophy each has different things are being examined.16 to lend to the study, whether in detailed analytical tools, powerful All the studies I have discussed, in concepts, depth of contextual data, all their variety, see scientific or frameworks for conceiving writing as complex and difficult, problems and interpreting data. requiring more detailed study. The study of scientific writing is [18]

an truly interdisciplinary problem. The Sociology of Science To claim that the study of any (Chicago University Press, single dimension of scientific 1973); also W. Hagstrom, The communication can provide an Scientific Community (Southern adequate account of the entire Illinois University Press, phenomenon will inevitably lead to 1965), and N. Storer, The Social distortions on both the practical System of Science (Holt, 1966). and theoretical levels--whether by 2. S. Cozzens, "Comparing the reformists developing new rhetorical Sciences: Citation Context prescriptions for their disciplines Analysis of Papers from based on a single-dimensioned model Neuropharmacology and the or by philosophers who would reduce Sociology of Science," Social claim-making to a single Studies of Science 15 (1985), straightforward set of procedures. pp. 127-153; H. Small, "A Sociology--no matter how strong it Co-Citation Model of a is, and no matter what essential Scientific Specialty: A parts of the game it accounts Longitudinal Study of Collagen for--cannot draw the complete Research," Social Studies of picture, nor will its account of Science 7 (1977), pp. 139-166; sociological dynamics be accurate H. Small, "Cited Documents as without taking into account the Concept Symbols," Social Studies changing epistemological ambitions of Science 8 (1978), pp. of the community or the dynamics of 327-340. S. Cozzens reviews the literary traditions and linguistic literature on citation studies innovations. Nor can linguists and in "Taking the Measure of teachers writing effectively define Science: A Review of Citation and teach language features without Theories," International Society understanding how these features fit for the Sociology of into the social and Knowledge natural worlds Newsletter, March 1981. The that frame symbolic activity. Thus fields of Bibliometrics and even the special of purposes each of Library Science have continued the interested disciplines would this investigation of gain from an large interdisciplinary scale patterns of publication perspective. behavior, such as in D. Kronick, "Authorship and Authority in the Awareness of the of multiplicity Scientific Periodicals of the traditions now finding scientific Seventeenth and Eighteenth writing a significant research site Centuries," Library Quarterly 48 constitutes the next stage of (1978), pp. 255-275 and L. Sachs an developing interdisciplinary et al. , "Wissenschaftliche research into program the language Aufsaetze and Zeitschiften of knowledge. If the conjunctions frueher und jetzt: mit einigen of this review excite greater Daten zur Aufsatzstruktur von interdisciplinary reading and Originalien der 'Klinischen research in deepening a range of Wochenschrift,'" Nachrichten approaches, occasions for more fuer Dokumentation 31 (1980), complete and formal sharing of pp. 107-115. interests, and knowledge, approaches 3. For example, G. N. Gilbert and should in the future. The lie shape M. Mulkay, Opening Pandora's of the joint venture will become Box: A Sociological Analysis of clearer, when (and if) it unfolds. Scientists' Discourse (Cambridge University Press, 1984); B. Notes Latour and S . Woolgar, Laboratory Life: The Social 1. Most importantly, R. K. Merton, l19J

Construction of Scientific Facts (Newbury House, 1981). A recent (Sage, 1979); K. Knorr-Cetina, review article is B. Coffey, The Manufacture of Knowledge "ESP--English for Specific (Pergamon Press, 1981). A more Purposes," Language Teaching complete review of social Abstracts 17 (1984), pp. 2-16. studies of science relevant to A previous generation of scientific writing appears in C. syntactic studies are Bazerman, "Scientific Writing as exemplified by R. D. Huddleston, Written a Social Act," in New Essays in The Sentence _i English Technical and Scientific (Cambridge, 1971); M. Gopnik, Communication, ed. Anderson, Lingui s t i c Structures in Brockmann, and Miller (Baywood, Scientific Texts (Mouton, 1972); 1983). and K. C. Lee, Syntax of 4. For example, H. Garfinkel, Scientific English (Singapore Studies in Ethnomethodology University Press, 1978). (Prentice Hall, 1967); W. Labov 9. L. Selinker, "On the Use of and D. Fanshel Therapeutic Informants in Discourse Discourse: Psychotherapy as Analysis," IRAL 27 (1979), pp. Conversation (Academic Press, 189-215; J. Swales, Aspects of 1977 ); R. Di Pietro, ed., Article Introductions (Aston Linguistics and the Professions University ESP Research Report, (Ablex, 1982). 1981). Relevant conceptually, 5. Simply Stated, the newsletter of although not immediately on the Document Design Center (1055 scientific texts, is V. K. Thomas Jefferson St. NW, Bhatia An Applied Discourse Washington D.C. 20007) and the Analysis of English Legislative Journal o f Research Writing (Aston University ESP Communication Studies provide Research Report, 1983). advice and studies aimed at 10. For example, Victorian Science writers and editors. and Victorian Values, ed. 6. For examples see the Paradis and Postlethwaite (New collections, New Essays in York Academy of Sciences, 1981); Technical and Scientific G. Beer, Darwin' 8 Plots: Communication, ed. Anderson, Evolutionary Narrative in Brockmann and Miller (Baywood, Darwin, George Eliot, and 1983) and Writing in Nonacademic Nineteenth Century Fiction Setting, ed. Odell and Goswami (Routledge and Kegan Paul, (Guilford, forthcoming). 1983); W. Anderson, Between the 7. The most complete treatments of Library and the Laboratory: The writing in the disciplines Language of Chemistry in appear in the textbooks, E_ghteenth Century France (Johns Bazerman The Informed Writer, Hopkins University Press, 1985); second edition (Houghton S. E. Hyman, The Tangled Bank Mifflin, 1985); Maimon et. al. (Atheneum, 1962). A seminal Writing i_n the Arts and work in an earlier line of Sciences, second edition interest is R. F. Jones, (Winthrop, 1985). "Science and English Prose 8. See the collections, Common Style, 1650-75" PMLA 45 (1935), Ground: Shared Interests in ESP pp. 977-1009. and Communication Studies, ed. 11. C. Bazerman, "Modern Evolution Williams, Swales and Kirkman of the Experimental Report in (Pergamon, 1984) and English for Physics: Spectroscopic Articles Academic and Technical Purposes, in 'Physical Review,' ed. Selinker, Tarone and Hanzeli 1893-1980," Social Studies of [20]

Science 14 (1984), pp. 163-196; Toulmin, Human Understanding: C. Bazerman, "Physicists Reading The Collective Use and Evolution Physics: Schema-Laden Purposes of Concepts (Princeton and Purpose-Laden Schema," University Press, 1972). Written Communication 2 (1985), 14. For example, J. A. Campbell, pp. 3-23; C. Bazerman, 'The "The Polemical Mr. Darwin," The Writing of Scientific Quarterly Journal of Speech 61 Non-Fiction: Contexts, Choices, (1975), pp. 375-390. Constraints," Pre/Text 5 (1984) 15. For example, J. Clifford, "On in press; G. Myers, "The Social Ethnographic Authority" Construction of Two Biologists' Representations 1 (1982), pp. P r o posals ," Written 118-146; J. Fabian, Time and the Communication,.~~ ~ ~ ~~~. forthcoming; G. Other: How Anthropology Makes Myers, "Texts as Knowledge its Object (Columbia University Claims: The Social Construction Press, 1983); C. Geertz, The of Two Biology Articles," Social Interpretation of Cultures Studies of Science, forthcoming. (Basic Books, 1973); C. Geertz, 12. For example, P. Dear, "The Local Knowled_e (Basic Books, Constitution of Authority in the 1983); G. Marcus and D. Cushman, Early Royal Society," Isis, "Ethnographies as Texts," Annual forthcoming; B. Eastwood, Review of Anthropology 11 "Descartes on Refraction: (1982), pp. 25-69. Scientific versus Rhetorical 16. R. Brown, A Poetic for Sociology Method," Isis 75 (1984), pp. (Cambridge University Press, 481-502; S. Shapin, "Pump and 1977); R. Gusfield, "The Circumstance: Robert Boyle's Literary Rhetoric of Science: Literary Technology," Social Comedy and Pathos in Drinking Studies of Science 14 (1984), Driver Research," Americadr pp. 4881-520. Sociological Review 41 (1976), 13. J. Agassi, Faraday as a Natural pp. 16-34; J. Bennett Oral Philosopher (University of History and Delinquency (Chicago Chicago Press, 1971), chapter 5; University Press, 1981); D. M.A. Finocchario, Gailileo and McCloskey, "The Rhetoric of the Art of Reasoning: Economics," Journal of Economic Rhetorical Foundations of Logic Literature 21 (1983), pp. and Scientific Method Boston 48 1-517; D. McCloskey, "The Studies in the Philosophy of Literary Character of Science 61 (Reidel, 1980); L. Economics," Daedalus 113:3 Fleck, Genesis and Development (Summer, 1984), pp. 97-120; a Of a_ Scientific Fact, Bradley forthcoming issue of Daedalus is and Trenn, trans. (University of devoted to a colloquium on the Chicago Press, 1979); T. rhetoric of the human sciences. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, second edition (University of Chicago Press, 1970); K. Popper Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach (Oxford University Press, 1979); C. P e r elm an and L . Olbrechts-Tyteca, The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation (University of Notre Dame Press, 1969), S.