Geniuses, Heroes, and Saints

Name: Geniuses, Heroes, and Saints
Price: 69.99 AUD
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ISBN: 9780262551847

The Nobel Prize and the Public Image of Science

Massimiano Bucchi, Tania Aragona

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English

MIT Press
17 June 2025

History of science

A rich account of the world's leading science prize told through the lives it has changed, the controversies it has generated, and the impact it has made on the public.

A rich account of the world's leading science prize told through the lives it has changed, the controversies it has generated, and the impact it has made on the public.

In a world where the work of science largely remains inscrutable to the general public, the Nobel Prize confers a degree of intelligibility like no other honor. Our best-known and most prestigious award for individual scientific achievement, the Nobel attaches a brilliant face to a story of profound discovery, making moving headlines. In Geniuses, Heroes, and Saints, Massimiano Bucchi tells an equally compelling story of the Nobel's transformation of science into an epic pursuit legible both to the field and to the public, bound up with the currents of historical change.

Three main narratives characterize the Nobel. The scientist as genius, portrayed as a creative visionary, an exceptional intellect reflecting a solitary and romantic ideal of great communicative impact. The scientist as national hero acts as a surrogate of competition among nations in a peaceful, rational contest. The scientist as saint shines with moral exceptionality, a figure worthy of celebration and worship, known for virtues such as modesty, humility, and total dedication, body and soul, to the scientific enterprise. Whether the recipient was Albert Einstein or a countryside doctor toiling for years in obscurity, whether the prize was worthily given or awarded to work later disproved, or whether we even remember the honorees today, the Nobel defined the image of science in the twentieth century, Bucchi shows, an image that still lives in all sorts of fascinating ways today.

By: Massimiano Bucchi, Tania Aragona
Imprint: MIT Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 369g
ISBN: 9780262551847
ISBN 10: 0262551845
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 17 June 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Massimiano Bucchi is Professor of Science and Technology in Society at the University of Trento and former editor of Public Understanding of Science. His most recent books include Newton's Chicken and, with B. Trench, the Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology.