The New Formula For Cool: Science, Technology, and the Popular in the American Imagination

Judith Kohlenberger

Published by transcript Verlag 2015

The New Formula For Cool

Science, Technology, and the Popular in the American Imagination

Judith Kohlenberger

Volume 12 in the series American Culture Studies

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839430927

Overview
Contents

About this book

»Our society has undergone a paradigm shift. In the information age, you and I are the alpha males,« Dr Leonard Hofstadter, experimental physicist and protagonist of the hit sitcom »The Big Bang Theory«, assures himself and his fellow scientists. The success of this and similar formats in American popular culture proves his point: Science has finally discovered the formula for cool.
This interdisciplinary study examines how »cool«, a key aesthetic and affective category in the American imagination, informs contemporary representations of technoscience. Analyzing selected audiovisual productions, Judith Kohlenberger sheds light on current processes of interaction between science and popular culture, two pivotal sources for change in post-industrial America.

Author / Editor information

Judith Kohlenberger (Dr. phil.), born 1986, is a post-doctoral researcher forcusing on cultural studies, identity and representation politics. She currently works at the Institute for Social Policy of the Vienna University of Economics and Business and is affiliated with the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, VID/ÖAW, WU). She publishes widely on science studies, migration and education and teaches in the European Studies Program of the University of Vienna.

Reviews

»An important contribution to the study of American popular culture. It will be a fixture in future discussions addressing the many permutations of ›cool‹.«
Susanne Hamscha, Amerikastudien, 62/1 (2017)

»In her study, Kohlenberger succeeds in dissecting the multiple diverging relationships of science and coolness and provides a compelling analysis of a variety of media texts. This makes ›The New Formula for Cool‹ not only an important go-to for anyone interested in coolness studies, but also an important contribution to North American Studies and explorations of popular culture in general.«
Maria Sulimma, Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 65/2 (2017)

»Der Verdienst der Studie besteht zweifelsohne in der Darlegung des veränderten Verhältnisses von Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit im dritten Jahrtausend [...]. Eine dichte und empfehlenswerte Lektüre im Kontext der Erforschung der Populärkultur der Gegenwart.«
Annegret Scheibe, MEDIENwissenschaft, 1 (2017)

»One can only hope that there will be a continuation and extension of the present engaging and remarkably informative study in the near future.«
Katarina Delikonstantinidou, European journal of American studies, 2 (2016)

Supplementary Materials

Leseprobe

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	1
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	5
Acknowledgements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
Introduction Images of Technoscience in the New Millennium Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
The Conquest of Cool From American Counterculture to Global Dominance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
The American Information Society and the Crisis of Scientific Legitimation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
Nerd Alert Science and the Popular Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73
Cool Forensics and the Spectacle of Technoscience in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, and CSI: NY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
Geek Cool and the Comedy of Science in The Big Bang Theory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
Only The Cool Survive The Science of Disaster in Roland Emmerich’s The Day After Tomorrow Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
From Nerds to iCons Consumer Cool and the Rise of the Scientist-Entrepreneur in The Social Network and Jobs Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
Beyond the Formula A Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	283
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: transcript Verlag
Edition: 1. Aufl.
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 346
Keywords: Cool; Popular Culture; Media; Film; Television; Science; America; Cultural Studies; Sociology of Science

eBook

Published: August 27, 2015
ISBN: 9783839430927