One of our biggest challenges as scientific writers has to be overcoming the temptation to write [ with] jargon . . . and impenetrable complexity. This short book offers help (including exercises). Everyoneyes, everyoneshould take advantage. -- Stephen B. Heard * Scientist Sees Squirrel, on the First Edition * In these . . . brisk pages, Greene manages to deliver a series of practical, hands-on lessons to make scientific prose more lucid, more direct, more immediately comprehensible, and, yes, more concise. * Science Editor, on the First Edition * "A great resource for anyone preparing to embark on scientific writingwhether a paper for class or a research article submitted for publication." * Choice, on the First Edition * "Greenes feet are placed firmly on the ground. Her recommendations are widely applicable, and the solid ideas presented in this book should influence good use of English in any situation. Scientists should treat Writing Science as a user manual to keep their writing on track." * Journal of Scholarly Publishing, on the First Edition * "I feel like I have found a reference to keep on my shelf for the rest of my career. . . . In fact, after reading Writing Science in Plain English, I want to go back and edit every journal article I have ever written." * ESA.org's SciComm Lit Review, on the First Edition * "Writing in science has reached an all-time nadir and has become practically unintelligible to all but specialists in narrow fields. Professional articles on science are burdened by cumbersome expression, poor grammar, and a concomitant lack of precision and clarity. Accordingly, there is a great need for a primer of scientific writing. The brief book Writing Science in Plain English addresses that need." * Integrative and Comparative Biology, on the First Edition * "This slim, modestly priced volume should be of practical use for anyone who writes about science and struggles to do so betteror who teaches others who are similarly struggling. . . . This book is chock full of concrete examples using scientific material that illustrate issues in identifying the right audience, level of formality (or 'register'), and tone; telling a story and using active voice; word choice and the elimination of excess words; and organizing sentences, lists, paragraphs, and entire pieces effectively." * Science Communication, on the First Edition * "[ Greene's] wisdom seems almost endless: use the same terms for the same thing; dont use technical terms if your audience wont understand them; avoid non-parallelism; vary sentence length to avoid monotony; cutout superfluous words (including the); use transition words such as however and therefore to guide the reader; replace wordy phrases with single words. It really reads like aWhats What of good writing." * Medical Writing, on the First Edition * "As one might expect from the title, Writing Science in Plain English is clear, concise, and very easy to understand. In fact, its one of the best books on writing Ive come across. If you only read one book on science writing, make it this one." * Edge for Scholars, on the First Edition * "Greenes book is an excellent, concise guide to writing science in simple language. . . . The purpose of writing a journal article isnt to make ourselves sound intelligent; its to share our knowledge, and thats best accomplished by thinking first and foremost of our readers. Explaining complex science in a simple and understandable way is far more impressive than a dense and incomprehensible wall of text. Writing Science in Plain English is all about helping scientists achieve those communication goals, and, in my opinion, it deserves a spot on every scientists bookshelf. Or better yet, have a copy sitting open next to you as you revise!" -- Nicole Sharp * Sharp SciComm, on the First Edition * "Written in a breezy, engaging style in plain English; the author practices what she preaches. Copious in-text examples are provided to explain the key points of each chapter. Readers can also test themselves with the practice exercises at the end of each chapter, and answers are helpfully provided with commentary in an appendix. . . . Who will benefit from this book? Anyone involved in science communication, including writers and translators." * Japan Association of Translators, on the First Edition * "Why must the scientific literature be as confusing and dull as an insurance contract or a manufacturers warranty? It doesnt have to be like that! Writing Science in Plain English can teach any scientist how to write more compelling and lucid papers. Greene deserves a round of applause from scientific editors, peer reviewers, and readers everywhere." -- David S. Wilcove, Princeton University, on the First Edition This is the best book of this sort I have read. Greene practices what she preaches, writing clearly for a general scientific audience. She comes across as both highly knowledgeable and accessible. Greene makes achieving clarity look simple, and I found myself marveling at her wizardry. Readers will find the text empowering. -- Gina Maranto, University of Miami, on the First Edition "Writing Science in Plain English should be required reading for both established scientists and undergraduates who might become scientists. Greene uses plain English and instructive examples from the scientific literature to show student writers how to say what they need to say more concisely, more accessibly, and more effectively. Would that all writers followed her advice." -- John Alcock, Arizona State University, on the First Edition This guide echoes the advice I have given to students in scientific writing classes over my career. It rebuts the notion that science writing is different in kind and exempt from the rules that apply to other non-fiction writing: it requires strong narrative direction, active voice, strong verbs, short words where possible, and so on. This lucid, step-by-step book should be required reading for entering graduate students in the life sciences, and will be a welcome addition to the instructors reference shelf. -- Steven W. Buskirk, University of WisconsinMadison, on the First Edition "Perhaps we can stem the downward slide into anti-science wilful ignorance that is increasingly plaguing our time. To be sure, it wont be an easy task, but if we truly believe that knowledge is the best antidote to ignorance we must make our best effort to do so. And in making such an effort, this new edition of Greenes Writing Science in Plain English offers all those engaging in this struggle a method to acquire a particularly valuable set of time-tested skills that will be needed if success is to be achieved." * The Well-read Naturalist *
