Science On American Television

Author : Marcel Chotkowski
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226922014
Total Pages : 317 pages
Book Rating : 4.10/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Science on American Television written by Marcel Chotkowski and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-01-10 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As television emerged as a major cultural and economic force, many imagined that the medium would enhance civic education for topics like science. And, indeed, television soon offered a breathtaking banquet of scientific images and ideas—both factual and fictional. Mr. Wizard performed experiments with milk bottles. Viewers watched live coverage of solar eclipses and atomic bomb blasts. Television cameras followed astronauts to the moon, Carl Sagan through the Cosmos, and Jane Goodall into the jungle. Via electrons and embryos, blood testing and blasting caps, fictional Frankensteins and chatty Nobel laureates, television opened windows onto the world of science. But what promised to be a wonderful way of presenting science to huge audiences turned out to be a disappointment, argues historian Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette in Science on American Television. LaFollette narrates the history of science on television, from the 1940s to the turn of the twenty-first century, to demonstrate how disagreements between scientists and television executives inhibited the medium’s potential to engage in meaningful science education. In addition to examining the content of shows, she also explores audience and advertiser responses, the role of news in engaging the public in science, and the making of scientific celebrities. Lively and provocative, Science on American Television establishes a new approach to grappling with the popularization of science in the television age, when the medium’s ubiquity and influence shaped how science was presented and the scientific community had increasingly less control over what appeared on the air.

Author : Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226466957
Total Pages : 325 pages
Book Rating : 4.58/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Science on the Air written by Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-08-01 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mr. Wizard’s World. Bill Nye the Science Guy. NPR’s Science Friday. These popular television and radio programs broadcast science into the homes of millions of viewers and listeners. But these modern series owe much of their success to the pioneering efforts of early-twentieth-century science shows like Adventures in Science and “Our Friend the Atom.” Science on the Air is the fascinating history of the evolution of popular science in the first decades of the broadcasting era. Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette transports readers to the early days of radio, when the new medium allowed innovative and optimistic scientists the opportunity to broadcast serious and dignified presentations over the airwaves. But the exponential growth of listenership in the 1920s, from thousands to millions, and the networks’ recognition that each listener represented a potential consumer, turned science on the radio into an opportunity to entertain, not just educate. Science on the Air chronicles the efforts of science popularizers, from 1923 until the mid-1950s, as they negotiated topic, content, and tone in order to gain precious time on the air. Offering a new perspective on the collision between science’s idealistic and elitist view of public communication and the unbending economics of broadcasting, LaFollette rewrites the history of the public reception of science in the twentieth century and the role that scientists and their institutions have played in both encouraging and inhibiting popularization. By looking at the broadcasting of the past, Science on the Air raises issues of concern to all those who seek to cultivate a scientifically literate society today.

Author : Gary Richard Edgerton
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231121652
Total Pages : 513 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Columbia History of American Television written by Gary Richard Edgerton and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richly researched and engaging, The Columbia History of American Television tracks the growth of TV into a convergent technology, a global industry, a social catalyst, a viable art form, and a complex and dynamic reflection of the American mind and character. Renowned media historian Gary R. Edgerton follows the technological progress and increasing cultural relevance of television from its prehistory (before 1947) to the Network Era (1948-1975) and the Cable Era (1976-1994). He considers the remodeling of television's look and purpose during World War II; the gender, racial, and ethnic components of its early broadcasts and audiences; its transformation of postwar America; and its function in the political life of the country. In conclusion, Edgerton takes a discerning look at our current Digital Era and the new forms of instantaneous communication that continue to change America's social, political, and economic landscape.

Author : Lincoln Geraghty
Publisher : Berg
ISBN 13 : 0857850768
Total Pages : 124 pages
Book Rating : 4.68/5 ( download)

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Download or read book American Science Fiction Film and Television written by Lincoln Geraghty and published by Berg. This book was released on 2009-10-01 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American Science Fiction Film and Television presents a critical history of late 20th Century SF together with an analysis of the cultural and thematic concerns of this popular genre. Science fiction film and television were initially inspired by the classic literature of HG Wells and Jules Verne. The potential and fears born with the Atomic age fuelled the popularity of the genre, upping the stakes for both technology and apocalypse. From the Cold War through to America's current War on Terror, science fiction has proved a subtle vehicle for the hopes, fears and preoccupations of a nation at war. The definitive introduction to American science fiction, this is also the first study to analyse SF across both film and TV. Throughout, the discussion is illustrated with critical case studies of key films and television series, including The Day the Earth Stood Still, Planet of the Apes, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The X-Files, and Battlestar Galactica.

Author : George A. Comstock
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 410 pages
Book Rating : 4.46/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Television and the American Child written by George A. Comstock and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comstock explores the effects of television viewing on children's daily experience, scholastic achievement, belief and perception formation, consumer behavior, and psychology. He draws on numerous studies to show how American society has changed and will change further as the result of television viewing.

Author : Patrick Lucanio
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.86/5 ( download)

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Download or read book American Science Fiction Television Series of the 1950s written by Patrick Lucanio and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Americans grappled with the real problems of the atomic age in the 1950s, the science fiction television series provided escapist fare. At first essentially fantasy and adventure, the shows reflected the progress of the decade, using in the late 1950s extrapolations from the theories and findings of true science. From Adventures of Superman to World of Giants, this reference work covers all science fiction television series of the 1950s. A lengthy essay details character development, technical innovations, critical commentary and other matters. The episode guides that follow first provide primary cast and production credits for the entire season and then coverage of each individual episode, with title, airdate, writer, director, and a plot synopsis. Much of the information was derived from actual viewing, and many errors from other works are corrected here.

Author : David C. Wright, Jr.,
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 0786456345
Total Pages : 233 pages
Book Rating : 4.45/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Space and Time written by David C. Wright, Jr., and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2010-04-19 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays in this work examine treatments of history in science fiction and fantasy television programs from a variety of disciplinary and methodological perspectives. Some essays approach science fiction and fantasy television as primary evidence, demonstrating how such programs consciously or unconsciously elucidate persistent concerns and enduring ideals of a past era and place. Other essays study television as secondary evidence, investigating how popular media construct and communicate narratives about past events.

Author : M. Keith Booker
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0313052131
Total Pages : 225 pages
Book Rating : 4.32/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Science Fiction Television written by M. Keith Booker and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2004-07-30 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science fiction series have remained a staple of American television from its inception: classic programs such as The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Star Trek, along with recent and current series including Babylon 5 and Stargate SG-1, have been some of the most enduring and influential of all television shows. In this chronological survey, author M. Keith Booker examines this phenomenon and provides in-depth studies of the most important of these series. Science Fiction Television traces the development of the genre as a distinct cultural phenomenon within the context of broader developments in American culture as a whole. In the process, it offers a unique and informative guide for television fans and science fiction fans alike, one whose coverage is unprecedented in its scope and breadth. A must-read for anyone interested in its subject or in American popular culture, Science Fiction Television is a perceptive and entertaining history of one of television's most lasting forms of entertainment.

Author : Lincoln Geraghty
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 147661279X
Total Pages : 252 pages
Book Rating : 4.99/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Influence of Star Trek on Television, Film and Culture written by Lincoln Geraghty and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-07-15 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the first season of Star Trek opened to American television viewers in 1966, the thematically insightful sci-fi story line presented audiences with the exciting vision of a bold voyage into the final frontiers of space and strange, new galactic worlds. Perpetuating this enchanting vision, the story has become one of the longest running and most multifaceted franchises in television history. Moreover, it has presented an inspiring message for the future, addressing everything from social, political, philosophical, and ethical issues to progressive and humanist representations of race, gender, and class. This book contends that Star Trek is not just a set of television series, but has become a pervasive part of the identity of the millions of people who watch, read and consume the films, television episodes, network specials, novelizations, and fan stories. Examining Star Trek from various critical angles, the essays in this collection provide vital new insights into the myriad ways that the franchise has affected the culture it represents, the people who watch the series, and the industry that created it.

Author : Andrea L. Press
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN 13 : 9780812212860
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.6X/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Women Watching Television written by Andrea L. Press and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 1991-03 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Women's inclinations to identify with television characters varies with their assessment of the realism of these characters and their social world.