Political implications of science popularisation strategies: Frontiers of science

Abstract

This examination of the mediation strategies of a very popular factual science comic strip series from the 1960s and 1970s illustrates, in this case by highlighting the ways in which women were targeted as an audience, that science popularisations are always political. For that reason, they should not be evaluated merely in terms of scientific accuracy. I demonstrate tensions between the dissemination model of communication used in the distribution of science popularisations, on the one hand, with the advocacy of a dialogue model in their content, on the other.