Why the first letter of your last name matters
Sent from frequent reader and commenter Jon Zeitler: https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/06/why-the-first-letter-of-your-surname-matters/ When individuals make choices from lists, does the list ordering matter? There may be a ‘primacy effect’, where individuals are biased towards selecting items earlier in the list. Conversely, there may be a ‘recency effect’, i.e. a tendency to select items towards the end of the […]
Cleveland Abbe’s “The Teacher and the Student” (1909)
This short essay was published in Monthly Weather Review in January 1909, as part of the Summary of 1908 (p. 453). The text is copied verbatim, including what we would now recognize as non-gender-neutral language and grammatical errors. THE TEACHER AND THE STUDENT The good work that is done in meteorology is often accomplished by […]
Announcing: Publiscize
Calling All Scientists! From Dr. Robert Seigel: In my “spare” time, I have been working on an exciting project that can revolutionize our science communication. I am starting a new initiative called Publiscize (www.publiscize.com) and its purpose is to increase scientists’ research visibility, encourage cross-field collaboration, educate the public, and showcase university departments, schools, and […]
Jim Steenburgh’s “Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth”
Hi friends, If you like winter weather, skiing, or just damn good writing, check out this book by my friend and colleague Prof. Jim Steenburgh. Jim is one of just a handful of the most conscientious and careful writers that I have worked with. Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth: Weather, Climate Change, and […]
Polar Vortex, Redux
December 16, 2014 Filed under Blog, Potpourri, Uncategorized
Lee Grenci has a lot to say about the polar vortex and its abuse in the media. https://www.e-education.psu.edu/worldofweather/node/2103
David Byrne: Inspiration for Good Science Writing
About a month ago, I had finished reading How Music Works by David Byrne (formerly of Talking Heads). I was always a big fan of the music of Talking Heads and Byrne, and I found his movie True Stories quirky. I am a huge musicophile, as well, and when I saw the book on the […]
The importance of communication skills in the National Weather Service
As part of an online discussion forum, Wes Browning, Meteorologist in Charge of the National Weather Service Forecast Office in St. Louis, had this to say about the importance of communication skills. …as an NWS hiring official, I’d like to point out the critical importance of communications skills and training in operational emergency management (NIMS). […]
First for Eloquent Science
Matt Bunkers has just published a paper in the National Weather Association’s Journal of Operational Meteorology. The acknowledgements read: “The book, Eloquent Science, was an in- dispensable resource during the many revisions of this paper.” This is the first time I am aware of an acknowledgement in a journal article. In an email, Matt told […]
How to give feedback to colleagues and students on their writing
One of the perpetual difficulties with providing feedback to others is the tendency to coat the paper in red ink, leaving the author having to plow through all the comments. While not inherently bad in itself (I’m guilty as charged!), it can leave the author thinking that the 30 errors in punctuation exceed the one […]
Advice on providing better feedback…
Our advisors coated the drafts of our writing in red ink. And, we, in turn, coat the drafts of our students’ writing in red ink. Does the volume of red ink challenge students to improve their writing, or do they just shrug it off (for any number of reasons)? I was just reading an article […]
