Scientific English: A Guide for Scientists and Other Professionals

Product Review

English is often regarded as one of the most difficult languages to master. Yet while the English language has a vocabulary of upwards of 500,000 words, it only uses nine parts of speech, and all of these words fall into one (or more) of those nine categories. Scientific English: A Guide for Scientists and Other Professionals, Third Edition contains many simple revelations like this that make effective scientific writing in English easy, even for those whose fluency is in another language.

The book is organized around a basic guide to English grammar that is specifically tailored to the needs of scientists, science writers, science educators, and science students. The authors explain the goals of scientific writing, the role of style, and the various kinds of writing in the sciences, then provide a basic guide to the fundamentals of English and address problem areas such as redundancies, abbreviations and acronyms, jargon, and foreign terms. Email, online publishing, blogs, and writing for the Web are covered as well. This book is designed to be an enlightening and entertaining read that can then be retained as a practical scientific writing reference guide.

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review

(8 customer reviews)

72 of 73 people found the following review helpful

The best short book for scientific/technical writing, February 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Scientific English (Paperback)

I'm a technical writer by profession, and taught technical writing for 10 years. I've used this book and Day's "How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper" as textbooks, as well as in the workplace. This is the most succinct, practical, and helpful guide for scientific and technical writing on the market -- and I've looked at an awfully lot of guides! It's easy to use, and often very funny. Also, it's a good example of the clarity and brevity he advocates (this is not, unfortunately, true of many technical writing textbooks). Finally, I heartily concur with Day's belief that "Simplicity of expression is a natural result of profound thought." I've heard many scientists deplore the poor state of scientific education in the U.S. and the rise of "bad science." In my opinion, this is the fault of scientists themselves for not making their methods and results more accessible to the general public. Day's guidelines are an important step in the right...Read more

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful

Good book, but . . ., August 27, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Scientific English (Paperback)

I have worked as a science writer and editor for years and purchased this book with the intention of using it when working with investigators writing papers, grants applications, etc. (especially with those investigators for whom English may be a second language). Overall I think the book is quite good, and provides clear and concise advice and guidance (as well as numerous examples) on proper English language.Perhaps it is just a pet peeve of mine, but I take issue with Mr. Day's discussion of the use of the words "that" and "which." Although he provides examples of how the meaning of a sentence can change with the alternate use of "that" and "which," his conclusion is that, if it doesn't change the sentence, use either. To quote from the book, Mr. Day says, "Who gives a damn?"Well, I do. I'm not a "which-hunter," as Mr. Day describes some, but there are specific instances where these words are to be used, even if...Read more

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Excellent and humorous, January 11, 2007

Bruno Branco Castro "bbc" (Portugal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scientific English (Paperback)

An excellent aid for scientists whose native tongue is not English, but also a useful aid for any person that wishes to improve their written English skills. I mostly like the witty fashion and simplicity in which is written. In fact, the main message from this textbook is that in simplicity lies the secret to adequately express your ideas, whichever is the language. Furthermore, it provides useful rules and hints for the proper use of expressions, words, adverbs, adjectives, etc. Mandatory!