Science has always been marketed, from 18th-century coffeehouse demos of Newton’s ideas to today’s TikTok explainers

By: Beth DuFault, University of Portland, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: December 15, 2025

Words: 1,058

Last Updated: 3 weeks, 6 days ago

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By Beth DuFault, University of Portland

People often see science as a world apart: cool, rational and untouched by persuasion or performance. In this view, scientists simply discover truth, and truth speaks for itself.

But history tells a different story. Scientific theories do not simply reveal themselves; they compete for attention, credibility and uptake. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. once suggested that “the best test of truth is the power …

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