The Authority, Methods and Functions of Popular Science in the System of Sciences: Wilhelm Bölsche and Sexology

The factual ways by which knowledge travels from the public sphere into a specialized science or an academic discipline have yet to be explored. In this context, popular science is a crucial dynamic factor. The producers of popular science, the so-called popularizers, play a double role: From the perspective of the public, the popularizer acts as representative of the sciences. From the perspective of the specialized sciences, he is a spokesman on behalf of the public. This can be shown by an exemplary case study of one of the most important German popularizers of the late 19th and early 20th century, Wilhelm Bölsche, and his relation to the emergence of sexology as an academic discipline. Taking into account Bölsche’s writings, his exchange of letters with scientists and the works of early sexologists, the project aims to retrace the genesis and communication of terms and methods in a non-academic network. The project deals with the question of whether popular science influences the production of new specialized knowledge. It explores the transdisciplinary authority of popular science that challenges acknowledged boundaries and supposed stable hierarchies of the academic system.