ABSTRACT
Popularization of science can mean many different things, depending on who is dealing with it. Historians of mentalities are concerned with the images of science circulating in various popular cultures. Historians of the press, publishing, radio broadcasting or television would include the popularization of science within the development of mass communication. Historians of science are more inclined to consider the emergence of the popularization of science as a result of the specialization of science. Since scientific knowledge is increasingly specialized, complex and esoteric, it is assumed that mediations are required in order to bridge the gulf between a small elite of learned scientists and the mass of other citizens. The notion of a gulf between science and the public, widely shared by academic scientists and science journalists, thus appears as a prerequisite underlying the whole development of science popularization. Since the emphasis of this volume is the history of science, this chapter will be mainly concerned with the latter view of science popularization. Privileging this approach, however, does not mean that the evolution of science popularization will be described as a necessary consequence of the advancement of science.
