1 The Craft of Scientific Writing by Michael Alley Presented by Marta T. Magiera RET 2007 University of Illinois at Chicago July 12, 2007 Chapters 6-9

2 Power of language: the way we use words Fluid Precise Clear Forthright Familiar Concise

3 Fluid Precise Clear Forthright Familiar Concise Forthright  Controlling tone of writing  Selecting strong nouns and verbs  Keeping readers moving forward

4 Per your request I am facilitating this part of presentation. Avoid pretentious words Avoid arrogant phrases Controlling tone of writing leading to obvious result as shown above

5 Choosing Strong Nouns  Concrete vs. Abstract nouns  Should evoke senses – “The existing nature of Mount St. Helens’ volcanic ash spewage was handled through the applied use of computer modeling capabilities.” – “With Cray computers, we modeled how much ash spewed from Mount St. Helens.”

6 Choosing Strong Verbs  Allow verbs to push paper forward  Use active verbs – eliminate “is” or “to be”  Passive voice usually is unnatural – “ The feed through was composed of a sapphire optical fiber which was pressed against the pyrotechnic that was used to confine the charge“ – “The feed through contained a sapphire optical fiber, which pressed against the pyrotechnic that contained the charge” Use first person “In this paper the author assumed that …” Keep emphasis on work

7 Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, A cloud of hot rock and gas surged northward from its collapsing slope. The cloud devastated more than 500 square kilometers of forests and lakes. The effects of Mount St. Helens were well documented with geophysical instruments. The origin of the eruption is not well understood. Volcanic explosions are driven by a rapid expansion of steam. Some scientists believe the steam comes from groundwater heated by the magma.

8 Familiar Fluid Precise Clear Forthright Familiar Concise  Every field has a tendency to create it’s own language: specific terms to describe specific ideas  In scientific writing, the writer is responsible bridging the language gap  Introducing an unfamiliar term, requires defining or explaining its meaning

9 Defining Terms  To inform your audience, you have to use language that they understand.  Define the term in the sentence.  Use analogy

10 transcendental number is a real or complex number which is not algebraic that is, not a solution of a non-zero polynomial equation, with rational coefficients

11 If you were standing at arm's length from someone and you had one percent more electrons than protons, the repelling force would be incredible. How great? Enough to lift the Empire State Building? No. To lift Mount Everest? No. The repulsion would be enough to lift a weight equal to that of the entire earth. Numerical analogies make writing unique.

12 Concise  Eliminating redundancies  Eliminating writing zeros  Reducing sentences to simplest form  Cutting waste Fluid Precise Clear Forthright Familiar Concise

13 Eliminating Redundancies Redundancies are needless repetition of words in a sentence -repeat the meaning of an earlier expression or else makes implicit a point that has already been stated Adjectives often redundant The aluminum metal cathode became pitted during the glow discharge. Adverbs also redundant Common examples in Scientific Writing -(already) existing - (alternative) choices at -(the) present (time) - (basic) fundamentals -(completely) eliminate - (continue to) remain -(currently) being - (currently) underway

14 Eliminating Writing Zeros Zeros are phrases that have no meaning at all. These type of phrases do not offer any information It is interesting to note that over 90 incidents of satellite fragmentations have produced over 36,000 kilograms of space debris. Vibration measurements made in the course of the missile's flight Test program were complicated by the presence of intense high frequency excitation of the vehicle shell structure during the reentry phase of the flight. ” Common Zero Phrases as a matter of fact I might add that it is noteworthy that it is significant that it should be pointed out that the fact that the presence of

15 Reducing sentences to simplest form Use only the necessary words in whatever sentence structure you choose (simple, compound, or complex) Many reductions occur within phrases at this point in time  now at that point in time  then has the ability to  can in light of the fact that  because in the event that  if Other ways to reduce to simpler sentence Do not overuse adjectives Do not use a lot of adverbs (ex. very, somewhat) Avoid using the passive voice (makes writing more efficient)

16 Vibration measurements made in the course of the Titan flight test program were complicated by the presence of intense high-frequency excitation of the vehicle shell structure during the re-entry phase of the flight. Vibration measurements made in the Titan flight were complicated by intense high-frequency excitation of the vehicle shell during re-entry.

17 Eliminating Waste  Looks to eliminate needless paragraphs and sections.  Make sure you consider the target audience.  Keep in mind the purpose for writing

18 Fluid The greatest possible merit of style is, of course, to make the words absolutely disappear into the thought. Nathaniel Hawthorne Fluid Precise Clear Forthright Familiar Concise

19  Varying sentence rhythm  Varying sentence and paragraph length  Making transitions between ideas

20 – Rhythm helps determine the energy of the paper; if every sentence begins the same way, the writing becomes dull. Imagine a song with only 2 or 3 different notes. Dull and monotonous, right? – How do you vary rhythm? Change the positions of the subject and verb, the way sentences begin and end, the lengths of sentences, and/or the lengths of paragraphs. – Choose transition words, such as, “moreover”, “however”, or “therefore” to begin sentences. Varying Sentence Rhythm

21 Length measured by the number of lines reader sees on the page. Many writers go no more than two-thirds down a page without displaying a visual break. Generally, a paragraph is between 7 to 14 lines with an occasional long paragraph. Overall paragraph length depends on the format. Varying paragraph lengths

22 Paragraph Dilemma We identified 4 reasons that can explain differences between these results Argument 1 Argument 2 Argument 3 cont. Argument 4 This argument is further supported by the prevalence of ….

23 Use Equations Electrical conductivity is defined as function of material's ability to carry electrical current and is measured as a product of the reciprocal resistance to the flow of electricity in a length L of material divided by the cross-sectional area A of the material.

24 Power of language Fluid Precise Clear Forthright Familiar Concise Thank you