Re:A prophet will arise in CS
by btilly on Monday May 09, 2011 @04:54PM
(#2530176)
The thesis that nobody has every popularized any branch of science is wrong. There used to be a tradition of having seminal books like The Origin of the Species being aimed at being understandable to a large audience of educated people. And books in that vein still do appear, for instance Guns, Germs and Steel is both a popular book and a serious academic work.
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Re:A prophet will arise in CS
by timwiseman on Monday May 09, 2011 @06:03PM
(#2530388)
You have a point, but keep in mind that some very relevant things have changedsince then. Two to consdier:
1. At that time (roughly 1859), the percentage of the population that was considered educated is much smaller than it is now, and many of those in the educated class where indepently wealthy (or directly sponsored by someone who was) and had little expectation on them other than to be educated.
2. Knowledge was much was less specialized then than it is now. I have been told that it is not uncommon now for a number theorist to have a hard time explaining the details of his work to someone who had specialized in analysis, much less to members of the "large audience of educated people."