Communicating Science : A Practical Guide for Engineers and Physical Scientists

Read this book before you write your thesis or journal paper! Communicating Science is a textbook and reference on scientific writing oriented primarily at researchers in the physical sciences and engineering. It is written from the perspective of an experienced researcher. It draws on the authors' experience of teaching and working with both native English speakers and English as a Second Language (ESL) writers. For the range of topics covered, this book is relatively short and tersely written, in order to appeal to busy researchers.

Communicating Science offers comprehensive guidance on:

• Research reports: journal papers, theses, and internal reports
• Review and publication process
• Conference and seminar presentations: lectures and posters
• Research proposals
• Business plans
• Patents
• Popular media
• Correspondence, CV's, and job hunting
• Writing well: writing strategies and guidance on English composition and grammar

Graduate students and early career researchers will be guided through the researcher's basic communication tasks: writing theses, journal papers, and internal reports, presenting lectures and posters, and preparing research proposals. Extensive best practice examples and analyses of common problems are presented. Advanced researchers who aim to commercialize their research results will be introduced to business plans and patents, so that they can communicate optimally with patent attorneys and business analysts. Likewise, advanced researchers will be assisted in conveying the results of their research to the industrial and business community, governmental circles, and the general public in the chapter on popular media. Researchers at all levels will find the chapter on CV's and job hunting helpful. The Writing Well chapter will assist researchers to improve their English usage in scientific writing. This chapter is oriented both at native English speakers, who have an intuitive command of English but often lack formal instruction on grammar and structure, and non-native English writers, who often have had formal instruction but lack intuitive grasp of what sounds good.

Mentors will find the book a useful tool for systematically guiding their students in their early writing efforts. If your students read this book first, you will save time! Communicating Science may serve as a textbook for graduate level courses in scientific writing.

Readership: Aspiring and practicing engineers and physical scientists.

"The book, written from years of experience in publishing and teaching, is a delightful, informative, easy read. Taking the lessons provided to heart by writers of scientific publications, journal articles or other formats, could save countless hours and frustration for writers and reviewers. Ultimately it helps to effectively convey the messages to readers. I highly recommend this book to all who are new to publications or to those who feel that improvement of their skills could be possible." -- André Anders Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Applied Physics & Senior Scientist, LBNL

"Among this work s strengths are the straightforward, discrete examples of language and phrasing at the sentence level — from research questions to various statements that are part of the writing process, with equally precise feedback on such examples. Enough context is provided to make ESL (English as a second language) students understand the processes that surround scientific communication, without being too laborious for native speakers to engage with the text. This particular work is unique because it has a less Western-centric approach." -- CHOICE connect

"The book is accessible to anyone who is looking to improve their written and communication skills or attempting to understand research papers more clearly. Humorous quips and historical anecdotes are peppered throughout the text to provide levity. This textbook is a helpful tool for communicating ideas about engineering and science in a way that packs a punch and leaves readers informed rather than confused. " -- Professional Engineering

"The text is appropriate for those teaching research skills within the sciences, as well as those in professional communication who may be teaching a course on technical writing to science majors. While intended for a graduate-level audience, this text would also be appropriate for advanced undergraduates in the sciences and engineering who wish to become more familiar with those genres employed in the sciences. I highly recommend this as a text for those wishing to teach, or learn, scientific communication skills." -- Dr Michael J Klein, James Madison University, Virginia, USA