What Writing This Book Taught Me
[DMS: This was going to be a sidebar in the last chapter of Eloquent Science, but we decided upon removing it to shorten the text. Remarkably personal, this text shows the struggles that I had to go through to deliver text I was happy with (or at least satisfied with).] 14 March 2008: Mary Golden […]
The shortest title ever written
I discovered this article while browsing on the Web site of Rutgers University mathematician Doron Zeilberger. Among his voluminous Web page (we’re talking Doswell-level voluminous), I came across this page. The article came about when Prof. Zeilberger was asked to give a talk to the Research Experience for Undergraduates program at the Rutgers Math Department. […]
Outlines in Scientific Presentations
November 6, 2009 Filed under Blog, Presentations
I asked my friends and colleagues for quotations that I could put in the book. I had way more than I could use. Here is one that was not used. This might be controversial, but I never start a talk with an outline of what I’m going to talk about. If it’s a short talk […]
American versus British English
[DMS: This was a sidebar that I cut from the book. Even before I met and married my British–Australian wife, I had this sidebar in mind very early in the planning of the book.] Over 300 years of separation has led to discernible differences between English as practiced in the United States and English as […]
Appendix B: Commonly Misused Scientific Words and Expressions
Download a sample chapter from the book.
Chapter 8: Constructing Effective Paragraphs
Download a sample chapter from the book.
Book Will Be Available on 23 November
October 27, 2009 Filed under News, Uncategorized
If printing and shipping goes well, the AMS will start selling the book on 23 November.
A Note About Where to Purchase Your Copy
October 27, 2009 Filed under News
If you are a bookseller, wholesaler, or are looking for bulk discounts, please contact the University of Chicago Press: (800) 621-2736 (US & CAN) • (773) 702-7000 • custserv@press.uchicago.edu. The University of Chicago Press will offer you standard book industry terms (retail discounts, returns, invoices, etc.). If you are an individual customer ordering one or […]
Why word order in titles is important: Example 1
“The Identification of Alcohol Intoxication by Police,” J. Brick and J. A. Carpenter, Alcoholism: Clinical Experimentation and Research, June 2001, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 850-5. <http://tinyurl.com/yd9rv4r> ——– From the mini-Annals of Improbable Research: October 2009, Issue number 2009-10. ISSN 1076-500X 2009-10-08 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Brick/Carpenter Confusion
Why you should use sans serif fonts for figures, posters, and slides.
September 25, 2009 Filed under Blog, Posters, Presentations
Serifs are those little vertical lines and flourishes at the ends of letters (like the vertical lines at the ends of the capital S or the horizontal line at the bottom of the lower-case r). Use sans serif fonts (Helvetica, Arial) because the near-uniform width of the strokes keeps the font readable when reduced in […]
