The Craft of Scientific WritingBy Michael Alley

Amani Abuhabsah RET 2007 July 12,2007

Words of Wisdom

“ We are all apprentices of a craft where no one ever becomes a master”

-Ernest Hemingway

Introduction: Deciding where to begin

Part I – The Basics (2 topics)

–The science of scientific writing

–Reasons why science writing is difficult (4 topics random, intricate, abstract, and language

Part II – Establishing Constraints ( 4 topics)

–Audience - Politics

–Format -Mechanics

Part III – Language (6 topics)

- Precision - Familiarity

–Being Concise -Tone

–Being Fluid - Clarity

Introduction part 2

•Part IV – Selecting your Stylistics Tool (3 topics)

•Structure

•Language

•Eliminating Zeros

One- liners we have used for writing

Use synonyms for variety Never use the first person Always write in the active voice

The science of scientific writing

What is the formula for scientific writing?– There is no formula or law

Scientific writing is not a science

– It does not contain laws obtained

through experiments

Cook Book for Scientific Writing

Reasons why writing is so difficult

Random– Turbulent flow

Intricate – Double helix structure of DNA

Abstract – Quantum Orbits of electrons

Language – Is not the expressions you find in the morning

paper “Frequency-doubled” Math Symbols and equations

Establishing Your Constraints

The audience– Who are they?– What is their background?– Why are they reading the paper?

Inform: Present the most information in the least amount reading time. Persuade: Present well organized logical arguments.

– How will they read the document?

Formats – Typeface, references, length of document

Don’t worry about format, you have no control over it, just follow it. Worry about your style, that is what you can control.

Formatting Scientific Writing

In scientific writing, formats vary to serve different purpose

Choose a style that is easy to read

More Constraints

Politics– Be honest?

Satisfy additional constraints

Mechanics– Follow the rules of punctuation and grammar– Keep up with recent change

1900: X rays 1950: X-rays 1995: x-rays

C & E News (1985): the 1980’s (plural)C & E News (1995): the 1980s (plural)

Not all rules are constant

The most important aspect of grammaris understanding what a sentence is

Sentence: A sentence is group of words with a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought.

Fragment: A fragment being a group of words that either is missing a subject or a verb or does not express a complete thought.

Run-on: A run-on is two or more independent clauses that are not joined properly, for instance, a common mistake is to have a comma between the clauses.

Which are sentences, fragments or run-ons?

Rubidium has no major uses, however, it is more common in the earth than zinc, copper, or nickel.

Although carbon dioxide occurs naturally, man has dramatically increased its concentration this past century.

Several systems can detect plastic explosives. For example, thermal neutron activation systems, nitrogen sniffer systems, and enhanced x-ray systems.

Selecting Your Stylistic Tools

Structure – Organization of details– Transition between details– Depth of details– Emphasis of details

Concise

Familiar

Clear

Fluid

Precise

Forthright

wordwordwordwordwordwordwordwordwordwordwordwordwordwordword

wordword

word

word wordwordwordwordwordwordword

word

wordword

word wordword

Short words are the best, and short words when old are best of all.

Winston Churchill

Language:the way we use words

Eliminate Writing Zeros

Vibration measurements made in the course of the Titan flight test program were complicated by the presence of intense high-frequency excitation of the vehicle shell structure during the re-entry phaseof the flight.

Vibration measurements made in the Titan flight were complicated by intense high-frequency excitation of the vehicle shell during re-entry.

Chapter 2: Structure Organizing your Data

“If a man can group his ideas, then his is a writer.– Robert Louis Stevenson's

Chapter 2 Outline

Part I – Creating Tittles Part II – Writing Summaries Part III- Writing Introductions Part VI- Writing the Middle documents (4

topics) Part V- Conclusions Part VI- Back Matter

Creating Titles

Most important phrases of scientific document– Identifies the field of study

Effects of Humidity on the Growth of Avalanches Effects of Humidity on the Growth of Electron

Avalanches in Electrical Gas Discharges

– Separates the document from all other documents in that field

Writing Summaries

“ Please be good enough to put your conclusions and recommendations on one sheet of paper in the very beginning of your report, so I can even consider reading it”– Winston Churchill

Two types of summaries

Descriptive: Can be written before work is done.

1. To present a argument.2. To align with length constraints.

Informative: Formal reports, 1.To give results2. To identify the work being presented.

Writing Introductions

I. What exactly is the work?

II. Why is it important?

III. What is needed to understand the work?

IV. How will the work be presented?

Just Follow the Map

Once you've captured the reader's attention, you'll need to point him or her in the direction

The easiest way to do that is to provide a roadmap, complete with signposts and landmarks to guide the way

Middles of Documents

I. Chronological Strategy

A. Timeline processes /Cyclic processes

B. Designate into steps or stages by grouping steps of twos, threes, or fours so reader can remember.

II. Spatial Strategy

A. Divide into twos, threes,or four parts. Comet head, coma, and tail

B. Follows physical shape, form of object. eg; shape of fossil, volcanic dispersion.

III. Flow Strategy

A. Follows flow of some variable such as energy or mass through a system- One pathway.

IV. Cause-Effect

A. Investigate why things occurred.

Conclusions

Provides closure Analysis of results Provides future

perspective of work

Writing the back matter

Formal: Appendices, glossary, index and a bibliography.

Glossary: informs secondary readers by defining terms in text. – Arrange in alphabetical order– Terms in boldface