The Rhetoric of the Human Sciences: Language and Argument in Scholarship and Public Affairs (Rhetoric of the Human Sciences)

Rating:
Summary: Welcome uncovering of "objective" social science rhetoric
Review: A fine collection of essays, many of them written with an eye to persuasion, on how the various disciplines employ rhetorical devices to persuade while claiming an "objective" stance. Particularly useful are the essays by Renato Rosaldo on the rhetoric of anthropology, John Campbell on Darwin's sustained focus on persuasion, and William Boyd White on the rhetoric of the law. These three are worth the price of admission; the additional dozen or so essays are a bonus.

Rating:
Summary: Rhetoric Shmetoric: this book is incredibly boring
Review: After reviewing the need for and renewed acceptance of rhetoric in the sciences, the book turns in to a unbelievably dull rendering of scientific pieces by authors who have yet to master the art of rhetoric.