“Punctuated equilibria”: Rhetorical dynamics of a scientific controversy

Abstract

A case study in the rhetoric of science, this essay follows the development of a controversy through a series of different audiences and interpretive frames. Originating as an attack on gradualistic assumptions in paleontology, the theory of “punctuated equilibria” was then posed as a broad challenge to evolutionary biology, prompting a range of responses within and without the scientific community. The essay highlights the problematic role of expertise as a scientific and rhetorical construction.