Nanotechnology and Scientific Communication

This study examines findings from a 4-year-long ethnography of communication among a research university's community of scientists and engineers working in nanoscience and nanotechnology. It includes analysis of 20 in-depth interviews with scientists and engineers from 18 different disciplines self-identified as working in nanoscale science and engineering. Using multiple methods of inquiry, including fieldwork, interviews, and textual analysis, elements of a shared speech code are presented, each of which indicate culturally distinctive understandings of psychology, sociology and rhetoric. In particular, the interview data addresses questions such as "e;What kind of person is a scientist?"e; "e;What is the role of science in society?"e; and "e;What is the role of communication in science?"e; This book will appeal to readers interested in science and society, scientific communication, and ethnography of communication.