Ten lessons about writing that every scientist should learn (via Alternative Hypothesis)

I’m going to say something and it’s going to hurt: sometimes, scientists are not the greatest communicators. There, I said it. I’ve watched scientists I look up to give seminars on the importance of coral reef fish and throw around words like “pomacentrids”, “acanthurids”, and “scarids” (damselfishes, surgeonfishes, and parrotfishes to the non-science nerds) when their audience consisted of tourist guides, waiters, and cooks. This was a lost opportunity as their audience was genuinely interested in what they had to say. The goals of science (for me at least) are to 1) figure out how the world works, and 2) to share that information with everybody.

The post I’m reblogging is a list of 10 tips that scientists need to remember when writing. After all, our writing is a failure if no one can understand what we’re trying to say.

Yesterday, I spent the day at the horse races, taking in the pomp and pageantry of the biggest stakes card of the year. I find the racetrack fascinating, and not just in that girlish horse-crazy sense. For starters, it’s the only place I know where it is normal to see small men wearing outrageous colors and women wearing birds on their heads. Second, I love the wordplay of the racing form, with horse names like Two Horn Unicorn, Tiny Giant, We Ta … Read More

via Alternative Hypothesis