It’s time for Microsoft Word to die.
Nice article from slate.com on the frustrations of dealing with Microsoft Word. (Image from http://ohinternet.com/Clippy)
Stream of consciousness writing vs Structured writing
There is a provocative post over on 3monththesis.com called “The worst thesis writing advice ever”. That advice? “Just get words down on the page, because you can always sort it out later.“ The rationale? Because the process of “sorting it out”, or editing, is 99% of the whole exercise! If you leave clarifying your thoughts […]
How not to write about complexity in science
Having graded over 130 student essays this past fall, I saw a certain word pop up again and again: complex. “Earthquakes are a complex problem.” “Titan has a complex methane distribution over the Tropics.” “To pin down the many complexities and feedbacks involved in jet stream blocking may prove to be difficult.” “Governments and international […]
Review: “Writing Science” by Joshua Schimel
March 21, 2012 Filed under Blog, Featured, Resources, Uncategorized, Writing
I just finished reading a new book Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded by Prof. Joshua Schimel, in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at UC Santa Barbara. Schimel’s book is the perfect companion to Eloquent Science. Whereas Eloquent Science provides guidance about how to […]
More on British and American English
March 11, 2012 Filed under Blog, Featured, Resources, Uncategorized, Writing
In a previous post, I had given a set of the more common rules for American and British English differences. Since then, I have received comments and emails asking me about how to submit to a journal that uses a form of English different from the one that you use. I can speak for myself […]
Speaking Science to the Public
A while back, I was asked about the type of guidance that I would provide someone who wanted to communicate to the public via their National Hydrometeorological Service’s Web page. The book I most highly recommend is “Don’t Be Such a Scientist”. The author definitely has an American way of writing, so nonnative American English […]
Teller on Communicating Science
No, not Edward Teller, but Teller of the magic act Penn and Teller. The Smithsonian magazine’s March 2012 issue has an article written by Teller, available online. In the article, Teller explains seven principles for how magicians convince the audience of the trick. After reading them, I think many could be equally applied to convincing […]
Best Practices for Numerical Weather Prediction Studies
The late Tom Warner of the National Center for Atmospheric Research just published an article entitled “Quality Assurance in Atmospheric Modeling”. You may not get it from the title, but this is a powerful paper that lays out 14 steps for improving modeling practices. All students and users of models need to read this paper […]
Plain English Campaign gets it wrong
In almost all cases, I support the Plain English Campaign, who aim to improve the readability of government documents, corporate letters, web sites, and other forms of communication. In their 2011 Golden Bull Awards, however, the Plain English Campaign got it dead wrong. The UK Met Office won an award for ‘empowering people to make […]
Errors in Publications #1
Check those page proofs carefully!
