Writing science through critical thinking
Written and extensively class tested with NSF/NIH support, this timely and useful text addresses a crucial need which is acknowledged in most universities and colleges. It is the need for students to learn to write in the context of their field of study; in this case science. Although numerous "how to" writing books have been published, few, if any, address the central pedagogical issues underlying the process of learning to think and write scientifically. The direct connection between this writing skill and that of critical thinking is developed with engaging style by the author, an English professor. Moriarty's book is an invaluable guide for both undergraduate and graduate science students. In the process of learning the specific requirements of organization demanded by scientific writing, students will develop strategies for thinking through their scientific research, well before they sit down to write. This instructive text will be useful to students who need to satisfy a science writing proficiency requirement in the context of a science course, a course in technical writing, advanced composition, or writing for the profession
Print Book, English, ©1997
Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury, Mass., ©1997
xxii, 263 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
9780867205107, 0867205105
35017306
Thinking science
The language of science
Audience and purpose: developing a perspective
Abstracts
Organizing with headings
The scientific paper
Using graphics in scientific writing
Description / perspective
Definition
Classification as context
Comparison/ contrast
Process
Reading selections. "Take this fish and look at it' / Samuel H. Scudder
"Epidemics, Book I" / Hippocrates
"The plague of Athens" / Thucydides
"The germ theory of disease" / Girolamo Fracastoro
"A contagium vivum fluidum as the cause of the mosaic diseases of tobacco leaves" / Martinus W. Beijerinck
"Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid" / J.D. Watson and F.H. Crick
Appendixes: Writing grant proposals
Mechanics and style