Drawing from the tradition of rhetorical inquiry, Ceccarelli (speech communication, U. of Washington-Seattle) explores how scientists have exploited the means at their disposal to design their arguments to persuade others, especially those in other disciplines than their own. Anthropologist Theodosius Dobzhansky, physicist Erwin Schrodinger, and sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson are her case studies. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-197) and index.

1. Inspiring Interdisciplinarity I. Theodosius Dobzhansky's Genetics and the Origin of Species 2. The Initiator of the Evolutionary Synthesis: Historians and Scientist Weigh In 3. A Text Rhetorically Designed to Unite Competing Fields II. Erwin Schrodinger's What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell 4. The "Uncle Tom's Cabin" of the Molecular Biology Revolution: Assessing the Place of a Text in History 5. A Text Rhetorically Designed to Negotiate Different Interests and Beliefs

III. Edward O. Wilson's Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge 6. The Controversy over Sociobiology: Scholars Offer Conflicting Explanations 7. A Text Rhetorically Designed to Fuel Interdisciplinary Hostilities IV. Speaking to Multiple Audiences 8. The Genre 9. Contributions to Four Ongoing Conversations.