The New Formula for Cool ─ Science, Technology, and the Popular in the American Imagination

"Our society has undergone a paradigm shift. In the information age, you and I are the alpha males," Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, experimental physicist and protagonist of the hit sitcomThe Big Bang Theory, assures himself and his fellow scientists. The success of this show and similar works in American popular culture proves his point: Science has finally discovered the formula for cool. This interdisciplinary study examines how "cool," a key aesthetic and affective category in the American imagination, informs contemporary representations of science and technology. Analyzing selected audiovisual productions, Judith Kohlenberger sheds light on the interaction between science and popular culture, two pivotal sources for change in post-industrial America.

Judith Kohlenberger is a post-doctoral researcher with a degree in English and American studies from the University of Vienna. Her research interests include gender and cultural theory, popular culture, North American film and television, cultural studies of science and science and technology studies, romanticism and postmodernism, and hemispheric approaches to the Americas. She works and lives in Vienna, Austria.