Keywords
history of science
science communication
science education
science/faith dialogue
How to Cite
Abstract
As part of my graduate diploma in Science Communication at Laurentian University, I explored how seven children’s books about the life of Galileo and Columbus framed science and religion. Using a rhetorical approach, I examined the text and images of the books to see if the books framed known or perceived conflicts between science and religion in a balanced frame, or if they were framed in an unbalanced opposition or non-oppositional way. Using Janis and Fadner’s coefficient of imbalance, I was able to quantify the results and found that the books tend to frame science and religion in a balanced way. However, the images in the sections of the books that dealt with known or perceived conflict between the Catholic Church and Galileo or Columbus strayed from a balanced view and framed science and religion as either oppositional or non-oppositional.
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