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From 1968 on, the state of Israel deployed television as a tool in the service of its ongoing project of reproducing the nation and as a propaganda tool that targeted the population of the newly occupied territories and the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel. With the collaboration of the scientific elite, the televising of original popular science programs, aired on the sole government-controlled channel at prime time, contributed immensely to these projects. Through these programs, the state disseminated a specific image of the nation's scientific prowess for popular consumption in the euphoric aftermath of the Six Day War. This article examines the first 20 years of the state's projects, during which the grip of Zionist collectivism was still strong, the monopoly of the government-controlled channel was not yet challenged, and the programs enjoyed astonishingly high ratings. My examination focuses on the ideology and motivations of the producers; the ways in which the communication elite and the scientific elite, enjoying a position of hegemony, collaborated by disseminating the nation's accomplishments in both the Arabic and Hebrew programs; and the actual content of the programs at large and specifically that of four episodes of Tazpit, the popular science program of the 1980s.

By analyzing the contests that appeared in Popular Science Monthly from 1918 to 1938, this article discusses the rhetoric of public engagement with technological innovation, and the magazine's construction of a readership community. A close analysis of these contests reveals a burgeoning participatory culture within the context of the popularization of science and technology in the mass-circulation press of early twentieth-century America. Significantly, the contests frame their public as an active participant in the development of science and technology, in sharp contrast to the passive, diffusionist model of science popularization that dominated the interwar period in the United States.

"From 'dragon bones' to scientific research" : Peking Man and popular paleoanthropology in pre-1949 China -- "A united front against superstition" : science dissemination, 1940-1971 -- "The content of human" : in search of human identity, 1940-1971 -- "Labor created science" : the class politics of scientific knowledge, 1940-1971 -- "Presumptuous guests usurp the hosts" : dissemination and participation, 1971-1978 -- "Springtime for science," but what a garden : mystery, superstition, and fanatics in the post-Máo Era -- "From legend to science," and back again? : Bigfoot, science, and the people in post-Máo China -- "Have we dug at our ancestral shrine?" : post-Máo ethnic nationalism and its limits

Introduction: The beast within -- How ethology became popular -- The alchemy of aggression -- Weapons created man -- The biology of love -- The aggression debate -- Sociobiology and pop ethology: contextualizing E. O. Wilson -- Genes and gender: the sociobiology debate -- Conclusion: On the shores of Lake Turkana.

From the 1950s to the digital age, Americans have pushed their children to live science-minded lives, cementing scientific discovery and youthful curiosity as inseparable ideals. In this multifaceted work, historian Rebecca Onion examines the rise of informal children's science education in the twentieth century, from the proliferation of home chemistry sets after World War I to the century-long boom in child-centered science museums. Onion looks at how the United States has increasingly focused its energies over the last century into producing young scientists outside of the classroom. She shows that although Americans profess to believe that success in the sciences is synonymous with good citizenship, this idea is deeply complicated in an era when scientific data is hotly contested and many Americans have a conflicted view of science itself. These contradictions, Onion explains, can be understood by examining the histories of popular science and the development of ideas about American childhood. She shows how the idealized concept of "science" has moved through the public consciousness and how the drive to make child scientists has deeply influenced American culture. -- Provided by publisher

This paper examines the content, form and function of popularized accounts of primatological research in the field. Based on the textual analysis of 11 popular accounts published from 1964 to 2001, it demonstrates that a key element of such scientific writing is the construction and presentation of the primates themselves as knowledgeable actors within particular social, ecological and moral landscapes. It places these accounts in the context of the problem of anthropomorphism within the history of the behavioural sciences, and argues that, given the importance of avoiding anthropomorphism in primatological research, the presentation of primate research subjects as persons must serve some significant function. It suggests that while one reason for this might be the severely endangered status of many primates, another might be found in the development of particular methodological strategies for conducting field site research, strategies that may help researchers form individualized relationships with their research subjects. However, such public productions of primate personality have political consequences, consequences that the science studies community needs to consider more carefully.