ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the typified social action of the scientific letter and commentary, genres with a long history in science but about which little is known. Dating back as far as antiquity, natural philosophers communicated their beliefs and experiments about the natural world not only to one another but to their patrons. With the founding of Philosophical Transactions in the seventeenth century, reporting became more formalized within journals. Letters remain a mainstay of disseminating scientific information today, and some journals are based upon them. Letters also serve to claim a right to priority for innovation. Commentary, the counterpart of letters, has an equally lengthy history. Since antiquity, critique has played an important pedagogical role, and for those involved in science, it has served as a means to critique the work of others, pointing out missteps and errors. More recently, critique has taken a more human-focused approach, with critique focusing on the impact of science in society. Unlike other scientific genres that have been more thoroughly studied, letters and commentaries, though critical for scientific practice, remain uncharted territory.
