Introduction

Scientific communication would also, Sprat continues, be characterized by “a close, natural, naked way of speaking; positive expressions; clear senses, a native easiness: bringing all things as near the mathematical plainness as they can: and preferring the language of artisans, countrymen [sic], and merchants, before that, or wits, or scholars”. Sprat’s goal of equating “things” and “words” was intended to eliminate the vagaries of interpretation in scientific communication and indeed all forms of communication. Through most of its 300-year history, science and scientific communication has largely been a Western European, male-dominated institution, and these biases are reflected in the institution’s material manifestations and consequences. Today, scientific communication is a behemoth. It is an enormous, powerful, profitable, worldwide institution that formidably influences nearly every person on Earth—the vast majority of them as stakeholders rather than as writers or readers/listeners—as well as the planet itself. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.