Scientistsregularlyemployhistoricalnarrativeasarhetoricaltoolintheircommunicationofscience,yetthere’sbeenlittlereflectiononitseffectswithinscientificcommunitiesandbeyond.ScienceBetweenMythandHistorybeginstounravelthesethreadsofinfluence.Thestoriesscientiststellarenotjustpoorlyresearchedscholarlyhistories,theyaremyth-histories,achimericgenrethatbridgesdistinctnarrativemodes.Thisstudygoesbeyondpolarizingquestionsaboutwhoownsthehistoryofscienceandestablishesacommongroundfromwhichtobetterunderstandthemessyandlastinglegacyofthestoriesscientiststell.Itaimstostimulatevigorousconversationamongsciencepractitioners,scholars,andcommunicators.Scientificmyth-historiesundoubtedlydelivervalue,coherence,andinspirationtotheircommunities.Theyaretoolsusedtobrokerscientificconsensus,resolvecontroversies,andnavigatepowerdynamics.Yetbeyondtheexplicitintentandrationalebehindtheiruse,thesenarrativestendtohavegreatrhetoricalpowerandsocialagencythatbearunintendedconsequences.ScienceBetweenMythandHistoryunpackstheconceptofmyth-historyandexploresfourcasestudiesinwhichscientiststorytellersusetheirnarrativestoteach,buildconsensus,andinformthebroaderpublic.Fromgeo-politicallyinformedquantuminterpretationdebatestohigh-stakesgene-editingpatentdisputes,thesecasestudiesillustratetheimplicationsofstorytellinginscience.ScienceBetweenMythandHistorycallsonscientistsnottoeschewwritingabouttheirhistory,buttotakemoreaccountofthestoriestheytellandtheimageofsciencetheyproject.Inthistimeoferodingcommonground,whenmanyfindthemselvesdependenton,yetdistrustfulofscientificresearch,thisbookinterrogatestheeffectsofmismatched,dissonantportraitsofscience.
