Science and Technology in Greek Newspapers, 1900–1910. Historiographical Reflections and the Role of Journalists for the Public Images of Science and Technology

Based on our research on two Athenian daily newspapers for the first decade of the twentieth century, we present some historiographical reflections concerning the role of the daily press in the circulation of scientific knowledge, ideas and practices. From the wealth of material provided, we examine some of the ways in which scientific and technical knowledge was made available to a wider public and contributed to the creation of a general scientific literacy. Although Greece has never been in the forefront of scientific and technological research, the vast amount of newspaper articles on science and technology, but also references to science and technology in other kind of articles, show how discussions on science and technology become part of daily life in order to serve various agendas. Since newspapers address a very wide and diverse public on a daily basis they become privileged media not only for understanding the role science and technology played in the formation of modern societies, but also for examining the values and ideas attached to them and communicated to a wider public.