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The following review of Gregory Schrempp's The Ancient Mythology of Modern Science is excerpted from the Journal of Folklore Research.
It has been a long time since I wished a nonfiction book to be longer, so that my experience of reading did not have to end so soon. I found myself wishing for yet more pages in this book. It may be because The Ancient Mythology of Modern Science brings two facets of my own life (as physicist and folklorist) into clear relationship, but I think the appeal is something deeper. On the one hand, the book is a pleasure to read because of the insightful argument, the witty exposition, and the richness of the discussion. On the other hand, the unfolding argument brings disparate domains—the Greeks, anthropological theory, mythology, science, history and philosophy of science, and cognitive theory—together into provocative relationship.
The book is based on a disarmingly simple premise that is stated directly in the opening paragraph:
“Two observations converge in the idea of this study. First, books in which accredited specialists discuss science and/or specific scientific findings in terms accessible and appealing to the general public have come to occupy a prominent place in contemporary bookstores. Second, humans throughout history have been fascinated by mythology. My argument is that these two circumstances are not unrelated: or, more specifically, the thesis of this book is that popular science writing provides a primary arena for the creation of contemporary mythology.” (3)
From this vantage point, Gregory Schrempp’s focus is the genre he terms “Popular Science Writing,” not science writing per se, a point he reiterates in stating, “the main arguments of my book are not directed toward science at its core; rather, in focusing on the popularizing of science I attempt to pick up science at those points, admittedly beyond precise location, at which it starts to become—dominantly—something else, a something else that by virtue of my background in mythology I think I recognize” (5).
(…)
The Ancient Mythology of Modern Science ploughs new ground for the study of myth and folklore. I recommend it not only to anyone interested in the intersection of myth and science but also to anyone interested in better understanding who we are and how we think as human beings.
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