Abstract

C. M. Nascimento-Schulze (1999).
Social Representation of the Universe-
A Study with Doctors in Human and Natural Sciences.
Papers on Social Representations, 8, pages 5.1-5.13.
[http://www.psr.jku.at/]

 

The present study brings together social psychology and physics
in an attempt to contribute to the debate on social representations
in science. The socio-psychological approach - equiped with social
representation theory (Moscovici,1976,1981) - aims at further
understanding of how scientific theories are received by audiences
with different levels of knowledge on the subject, when such
theories bring new informational elements which put in check
previously established knowledge. The descriptions of macro and
micro universe phenomena by the theories of physics are inspiring
objects to the study of the genesis of social representations,
particularly when we take into account the compatibility existing
between Newtonian theory and lays perceptions of reality one an
hand and the incompatibility between our daily perceptions and the
reality as revealed by quantum theory on the other.