Sins Against Science: The Scientific Media Hoaxes of Poe, Twain, and Others Contributor(s): Walsh, Lynda (Author) |
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ISBN: 0791468771 ISBN-13: 9780791468777 Publisher: State University of New York Press OUR PRICE: $90.25 Product Type: Hardcover Published: February 2007 Annotation: Lynda Walsh explores a provocative era in American history--"the proliferation of fake news stories about scientific and technological discoveries from 1830 to 1880. These hoaxes, which fooled thousands of readers, offer a first-hand look at an intriguing guerilla tactic in the historical struggle between arts and sciences in America. Focusing on the hoaxes of Richard Adams Locke, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, and Dan De Quille, the author combines rhetorical hermeneutics, linguistic pragmatics, and reader-response theory to answer three primary questions: How did the hoaxes work? What were the hoaxers trying to accomplish? And--"what is a hoax? |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Science | History - History | United States - 19th Century - Literary Criticism | American - General |
Dewey: 500 |
LCCN: 2005033336 |
Series: Suny Series, Studies in Scientific & Technical Communicatin (Paperback) |
Physical Information: 1" H x 6.36" W x 8.63" (1.20 lbs) 296 pages |
Themes: - Chronological Period - 19th Century |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Lynda Walsh explores a provocative era in American history--the proliferation of fake news stories about scientific and technological discoveries from 1830 to 1880. These hoaxes, which fooled thousands of readers, offer a first-hand look at an intriguing guerilla tactic in the historical struggle between arts and sciences in America. Focusing on the hoaxes of Richard Adams Locke, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, and Dan De Quille, the author combines rhetorical hermeneutics, linguistic pragmatics, and reader-response theory to answer three primary questions: How did the hoaxes work? What were the hoaxers trying to accomplish? And--what is a hoax? |