Science as cultural practice: A rhetorical perspective

This essay develops a conception of science as a complex series of cultural practices mediated in and through discourse. This conception requires attention to discourses typically considered non‐scientific, such as those resulting in funding decisions. A case study of the cold fusion controversy demonstrates that internal scientific practices cannot explain adequately the eventual closure of the debate, and that we must look to the rhetorical practices of Congressional committees and government agencies for those explanations.