Basic Writing Skills

Discussion leaders: Steve and Ed

Gopen, G.D. and J.A. Swan 1990. The science of scientific writing. American Scientist 78(6), 550-558.

Orwell, G. Politics and the English Language. Horizon. April 1946.

What's Wrong with how Scientists Write?

Discussion leaders:

• Robert Weekly and Caroline Pew - Hayes, 2 papers
• Angie Pendergrass and Mike Warner - all the others

Avery, L. 1996. Write to reply. Nature 379, 293.

Camba, R. 2000. Start making sense. Nature 406, 461.

Gregory, M. 1992. The infectiousness of pompous prose Nature 360, 11-12.

Hayes, D.P. 1988. Speaking and writing: distinct patterns of word choice. Journal of memory and language 27, 572-585.

Hayes, D.P. 1992. The growing inaccessibility of science. Nature 356, 739-740

Knight, J. 2003. Clear as mud. Nature 423, 376-378.

Leather, S.R. 1996. The case for the passive voice. Nature 381, 467.

Maddox, J. 1986. What is the scientific literature? Nature 322, 681.

Maddox, J. 1990. Does the literature deserve the name? Nature 348, 191.

How the Mind Reads

Discussion leaders: Kristin Poinar and Eva Stueeken

Report: by Darci Snowden and Jessica Lundin

MacIntyre, M.E. 1997. Lucidity and science I. writing skills and the pattern-perception hypothesis. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 22, 199-216.

Student Writing Practice

Discussion Leaders: Steve Warren and Ed Waddington

Report: by Ruschle Dadic and T.J. Fudge

Strunk, W. Jr., and E.B.White. 1959. Elements of style. Macmillan.

Student critiques of one anothers' AGU or GSA abstracts, or similar short texts.

• Wednesday Oct 22, choose a partner.
• Thursday Oct 22, exchange texts
• Friday-Monday, edit partners's text and return it. Author makes revisions based on review.
• Monday Oct 26, send original draft and revised text to Steve.
• Wednesday October 28 in class we will review selected texts, and authors can explain the revisions.

Principles of Scientific Prose

Discussion leaders: Regina Carns and Nicholas Castle

Report: by Rhea George and Chris Terai

Alley, M. 1996. The craft of scientific writing. 3rd ed. Springer. Chapters 1-3.

Being Precise, Clear, Forthright, Familiar, Concise, and Fluid

Discussion leaders: Jessica Lundin and Nick Siler

Report: by Brian Smoliak

Alley, M. 1996. The craft of scientific writing. 3rd ed. Springer. Chapters 4-9, and Appendices.

Although November 11 is a formal holiday, we will meet at the regular time. However, the new location will be JHN 011.

Principles of Graph Construction

Discussion leaders: Brian Smoliak and Adam Campbell

Report: by Nick Siler and Regina Carns

Cleveland, W.S. 1994. The elements of graphing data. Hobart Press. Chapters 1-2.

Note time and date change

Thursday November 19, 1:30-3:00 ATG 610.

because of conflict on November 18 with Norbert Untersteiner's world premier of the Ice Station Alpha movie.

Film and Panel Discussion:  Drifting Station Alpha in the Arctic
3:30 pm  HUB 310

Graphical Methods

Discussion leaders: Abhi Ghosh and Yurong Luan

Report: by?

Cleveland, W.S. 1994. The elements of graphing data.  Hobart Press.  Chapter 3. (Note separate color figures attached.)

Cleveland, W.S. and R. McGill. 1985. Graphical perception and graphical methods for analyzing scientific data. Science 229, 828-833

Student Powerpoint Practice

Discussion Leaders: Jonathan Toner and T.J. Fudge

Report: by Nick Castle

Sitting Down to Write

Discussion leaders: Sandra Penny

Alley, Michael, 1996. The craft of scientific writing. 3rd ed. Springer.  Chapter 17. "Actually sitting down to write"

Articles on Authorship, Acknowledgements, and other ethical considerations.