Sharing Our Science: How To Write & Speak Stem
| Item Information | |
|---|---|
| Item#: | 9780262546959 |
| Author | Brown, Brandon R. |
| Cover | Paperback |
| On Hand | 1 |
A personal, practical, and inspirational guide to written and oral STEM communications for scientists and technical professionals.
In Sharing Our Science, scientist-turned-writing teacher Brandon Brown offers an eminently useful guidebook for STEM practitioners looking to communicate their technical work to either a technical or a broader audience. Professionals are increasingly required to communicate their work through blogs, podcasts, and newsletters and to submit to traditional media. After seeing his colleagues struggle to find a writing guide that tackled the unique challenges of writing and speaking about scientific topics, Brown set out to write the definitive handbook to assist STEM students, scientists, engineers, and tech workers alike.
In this practical and relevant book, Brown uses his experience as a proven science communicator to cover three levels of writing: fundamental craft considerations, such as narrative tension, structure, sentences, and audience; unique scientific considerations, such as conveying numbers and utilizing metaphors; and finally, social considerations, such as public speaking and writing inside and outside of silos. In place of a reference manual, Brown’s engaging narrative guide clarifies the fundamental principles that impact all scientific communication tasks, from white papers and slide decks to Zoom meetings and emails. Sharing Our Science represents the culmination of a lifetime of writing, research, and teaching that will enrich scientists’ careers and illuminate the ways in which science is done and conveyed to the world.
In Sharing Our Science, scientist-turned-writing teacher Brandon Brown offers an eminently useful guidebook for STEM practitioners looking to communicate their technical work to either a technical or a broader audience. Professionals are increasingly required to communicate their work through blogs, podcasts, and newsletters and to submit to traditional media. After seeing his colleagues struggle to find a writing guide that tackled the unique challenges of writing and speaking about scientific topics, Brown set out to write the definitive handbook to assist STEM students, scientists, engineers, and tech workers alike.
In this practical and relevant book, Brown uses his experience as a proven science communicator to cover three levels of writing: fundamental craft considerations, such as narrative tension, structure, sentences, and audience; unique scientific considerations, such as conveying numbers and utilizing metaphors; and finally, social considerations, such as public speaking and writing inside and outside of silos. In place of a reference manual, Brown’s engaging narrative guide clarifies the fundamental principles that impact all scientific communication tasks, from white papers and slide decks to Zoom meetings and emails. Sharing Our Science represents the culmination of a lifetime of writing, research, and teaching that will enrich scientists’ careers and illuminate the ways in which science is done and conveyed to the world.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Julia Schaletzky ix
1 Me, You, and This Book 1
2 Tension 15
3 Structure: Mapping the Reader's Path
4 Audience: For Whom the Keys Click 49
5 Improving Sentences 67
6 Science-Specific Considerations 87
7 Numbers on the Brain 117
8 Details and Anecdotes 139
9 The Pros and Cons of Metaphor 153
10 Speaking Science 169
11 STEM Phenotypes 197
12 Communicating at Different Social Scales 211
13 Communicating Calamity 243
Acknowledgments 267
Appendix: Fixing Example Sentences 269
Notes 275
Index 287
1 Me, You, and This Book 1
2 Tension 15
3 Structure: Mapping the Reader's Path
4 Audience: For Whom the Keys Click 49
5 Improving Sentences 67
6 Science-Specific Considerations 87
7 Numbers on the Brain 117
8 Details and Anecdotes 139
9 The Pros and Cons of Metaphor 153
10 Speaking Science 169
11 STEM Phenotypes 197
12 Communicating at Different Social Scales 211
13 Communicating Calamity 243
Acknowledgments 267
Appendix: Fixing Example Sentences 269
Notes 275
Index 287
Review Quotes
"It should be required reading for scientists at any stage of their career."
—Nature Physics
"Straightforward, funny, endlessly practical, and simply a pleasure to read, Sharing Our Science might just deserve to become the Elements of Style of the STEM crowd."
—Civil Engineering magazine
"Brown is a gifted and creative writer . . . much more than just another reference book whose fate is to languish beneath the piles of papers on your desk. It is an engaging read that will help scientists achieve a richer and more rewarding career."
— Physics Today
"This book is a practical and entertaining guide to communicating science . . . It outlines the personal benefits to researchers of improving their writing — not only that readers will get a better grasp of their work, but that it also will open more doors in their working life."
—Medium.com
—Nature Physics
"Straightforward, funny, endlessly practical, and simply a pleasure to read, Sharing Our Science might just deserve to become the Elements of Style of the STEM crowd."
—Civil Engineering magazine
"Brown is a gifted and creative writer . . . much more than just another reference book whose fate is to languish beneath the piles of papers on your desk. It is an engaging read that will help scientists achieve a richer and more rewarding career."
— Physics Today
"This book is a practical and entertaining guide to communicating science . . . It outlines the personal benefits to researchers of improving their writing — not only that readers will get a better grasp of their work, but that it also will open more doors in their working life."
—Medium.com