[SIGCIS-Members] Why don't real historians write popular works?

Jonathan Coopersmith j-coopersmith at tamu.edu
Sun Oct 12 16:03:55 PDT 2014


There is another reason why historians don't write popular books, a fear of
being labelled a synthesizer by one's colleagues.  Admittedly, that may be
partially due to jealousy at the publicity and income of a best seller, but
it is a real issue especially within the reward structures (such as they
exist) of universities.  I think the converse is true, that we should try
to reach wider audiences.

 Jonathan

On Wed, Oct 8, 2014 at 3:33 PM, Ceruzzi, Paul <CeruzziP at si.edu> wrote:

> I'm willing to let it go, and be happy that this story is getting out,
> even if imperfectly.  Heck, I was chastised for spelling Sergey Brin as
> "Sergei" in one of my publications, although in my defense a Russian
> scholar at my office says it was OK.  I really want to see what Hollywood
> does with this story. They botched the Jobs biopic, but it looks like they
> are going to do a good job with Alan Turing. Let'e hope for the best. I am
> sure you've heard the story that, even if Hollywood picks up your script,
> by the time it appears on screen the only words of your script that they
> will have kept are "and" and "the."  That story was repeated to me by a
> person who had a novel made into a movie, and who otherwise was very
> enthusiastic about a film about the ENIAC.
>
> By the way  -- I knew Strobe Talbot, but it was a long, long time ago. He
> was a classmate of George W. at Yale, and editor of the Yale Daily News,
> back when being a newspaper editor meant something. I recall that, unlike
> W., he did not get tapped for Skull & Bones, which was somewhat of a
> scandal at the time.
>
> Paul
> ________________________________________
> From: members-bounces at sigcis.org [members-bounces at sigcis.org] on behalf
> of James Sumner [james.sumner at manchester.ac.uk]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2014 3:55 PM
> To: members at sigcis.org
> Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Why don't real historians write popular
> works?
>
> Those pondering the challenges and possible unwinnability of this war may
> possibly draw inspiration, or at least solace, from a modern classic
> article in the history of science:
>
> David Philip Miller, "The 'Sobel Effect': The Amazing Tale of How
> Multitudes of Popular Writers Pinched All the Best Stories in the History
> of Science and Became Rich and Famous while Historians Languished in
> Accustomed Poverty and Obscurity, and how this Transformed the World. A
> Reflection on a Publishing Phenomenon". Metascience 11 (2002), 185-200.
> http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02914819 (subscription)
>
> Best
> James
>
> On 08/10/2014 18:21, McMillan, William W wrote:
>
> I know in some cases popular history and biography are produced by real
> historians, but the lively discussion on this list about the failings of
> popular writers in the history of computing gives me the impression that
> the field of battle has been left to the pithy and the superficial.  Is
> this community sniping from the hilltops, hoping that the writers down on
> the mass-market battlefield will march up with a white flag, an
> acknowledgment, and a pledge to respect real scholarship?
>
> If real historians charged down the hill with a barrage of their own
> popular histories, wouldn't that overwhelm the errant?
>
> Just askin'.
>
> Bill
>
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