Lesson

     The two most important goals of scientific writing at the sentence level are to be precise and to be clear. Perhaps Einstein said it best, "In scientific writing, keep things as simple as possible, yet no simpler." The four films of this lesson examine these two goals in scientific writing. (31 minutes)

Balancing Precision with Clarity (Part 1): This film focuses on making your language precise.

Balancing Precision with Clarity (Part 2): This film focuses on making your language clear by avoiding needless complexity at the word level.

Balancing Precision with Clarity (Part 3): This film focuses on making your language clear by avoiding needless complexity at the word level.

Balancing Precision with Clarity (Part 4): This film focuses on making your language clear by avoiding needless complexity at the sentence level.

Comprehension Quiz

  1. In scientific writing, why are being precise and clear more important than other goals such as sound?
  2. Should you exaggerate in your scientific writing--why or why not?
  3. What did Einstein mean by the quotation, "Keep things as simple as possible, but no simpler."

Instructor Lesson Plan


​     Forthcoming will be a plan for instructors to incorporate this summary lesson into a class period of their course. Included with this plan will be discussion questions, student activities, and a comprehension quiz. ​​

References

  1. Alley, Michael, The Craft of Scientific Writing, 4th ed. (New York: Springer Verlag, 2018), Lesson 2.
  2. Bernstein, Theodore, The Careful Writer (New York: Free Press, 1995).
  3. Bohr, Niels, The Theory of Spectra and Atomic Constitution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1924), p. 81.
  4. Einstein, Albert, Relativity: the Special and General Theory, trans. by R.W. Lawson (New York: Crown Publishers, 1945), p. 9.
  5. Gunning, Robert F., “The Fog Index after Twenty Years,” Journal of Business Communication, vol. 6, no. 2 (1969), pp. 3-13.

Sponsors and Editors


​Sponsors
     Leonhard Center, College of Engineering, Penn State
​     National Science Foundation, NSF EAGER Award  1752096

​Faculty Editor
     Michael Alley, Teaching Professor, College of Engineering, Penn State

Film Editors
     Richelle Weiger, College of Engineering, Penn State
     Casey Fenton, College of Engineering, Penn State
​     Elaine Gustus, College of Engineering, Penn State
For the academic year 2019-2020, we are collecting comments, questions, criticisms, and suggestions for the films, text, and quizzes of each lesson on scientific writing. To help us understand your input, would please let us know what your discipline is and whether you are a student, professional, or faculty member?