In light of a large number of admirable attempts which look at scientific discourse from social, dialogic, and interpersonal points of view, the propositions which consider scientific discourse as an interactive endeavor are now well-established. By the force of our social constructivist gyrations, we have developed glimpses of a social, cultural, and historical dimension in which the discourse of science operates. These glimpses indicate to us how much the discourse of science is part of the

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... mplex webs of human's social interaction. Recognizing this social, cultural, and historical nature, the present paper attempts to highlight the heterogeneity and hybridity of scientific discourse and indicate a number of ways scientific discourse is influenced by non-scientific discourses. Recognition of this hybridity helps the author develop a preliminary framework based on the concept of vertical intertextuality and reveal how modern scientific discourses borrow generic, stylistic, and rhetorical conventions of non-scientific discourses. The paper concludes with some of the implications of the developed perspective for ESP pedagogy and suggests a number of genre-related, style-related, and register-related pedagogic tasks.