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Complaints
and a Solution
As both a reader and a writer, I complain
most frequently
about two things: unsatisfactory definitions and inadequate
explanations of
underlying assumptions. So I decided to
avoid those blunders by introducing my project with a definition of
science writing and its underlying assumptions.
What is
Science Writing?
Science writing, for the purpose of this
project, is
perhaps best defined first by what it is not. It
is
not writing exclusively for other scientists. It
is not primarily technical. It is not
written for
academic or
scientific journals. It is neither a
lab paper nor a how-to manual. And
it is not aimed solely
at specialists.
Instead, it is writing about scientific issues and topics for a general audience. Consider the MIT graduate program in science writing’s definition:
"Science writing means writing about science and technology for general readers. It appears in ordinary newsstand magazines and newspapers, in popular books, on the walls of museums, on television or radio programs. It grapples with genes, fractals, synapses, and quarks, but always with grace and style. Its practitioners worry as much about how to tell the story of science as the science itself—and yet, in maddening paradox, as much about the science as its telling. Science writing tackles big ideas, important issues. It's ambitious, creative, hard to do—harder yet to do well" (MIT).
Although I find the MIT definition almost flawless, I'll add a few things. Science writing exposes issues, reports on discoveries, and makes the usual unusual. It wonders, inquires, and answers. And it does so with a balance between proper skepticism and trust. It focuses as much on shaping a sentence as it does on grasping scientific ideas. And it struggles with human, historical, and ethical dimensions, and supplies those contexts to the readers as needed.
Science writing does not have to be
environmentally
based. But environmental and nature topics
are
certainly one division of scientific writing. Given
this project is part of St. Olaf's Environmental Studies Senior
Seminar, I'm focusing on environmental science writing. By doing
so, I do not ignore other branches of science. Ecology,
ornithology, chemistry, physics, engineering, social sciences, and
medicine all wiggle
their way into my pieces.