On Tue, 2 Dec 2003, Dwayne Monroe wrote:
> The idea of the *reading-learner* Kelley describes (a
> lovely notion, by the way) or, more specifically, the
> idea of a writer crafting her work for the
> reading-learner has an elegant precedent amongst
> science populizers.
>
> Physicists and astrophysicists in particular seem to
> have a passion for writing the results and
> implications of their work in book length form for
> general audiences.
>
Yeah, but that's the thing people are missing here: the people who produce these general audience science books about quantum physics are distilling and simplifying more complex and rigorous scientific theories and research. There has to be a body of scientific knowledge for them to draw from, and this formal theory and research is definitely not accessible to the general population.
Just as this is true of physics, it's true of the "human" sciences. A great deal of social theory and research will not be immediately accessible to the general population. I don't see why this is a problem.
Miles