Lecture on Popular Science Writing

Popular science writing
Susanne Pelger
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Why? What? How?
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Why popular science?
•  Be able to write different kinds of texts in
working life.
•  Be able to communicate with colleagues with a
different background.
•  Spread knowledge to the society.
•  Researchers who write popular science are
more frequently cited.
(Phillips, D.P., Kanter, E.J., Bednarczyk, B. & Tastad, P.L., 1991: Importance of
the lay press in the transmission of medical knowledge to the scientific
community. The New England Journal of Medicine 16: 1180-1183.).
•  Popular science communication supports
learning.
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What does the reader
want to know?
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!
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So what?
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What makes this
research
interesting?
Which are the
benefits for
society?
Questions to be answered
What´s in it
for me?
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How can it be part
of a larger
context?
Whole
Details
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Whole
Details
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How should I write?
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The canons of rhetoric
•  Analysis – adapting to rhetorical situation and
audience
•  Invention – choosing contents, message, level of
abstraction, perspective
•  Arrangement – choosing structure, highlighting
structure (with paragraphs, headings, metatexts)
introduction, conclusion
•  Style – words, expressions, composition
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Popular science
Analysis
Adapting to rhetorical situation and audience.
Who is the reader?
When does he/she read the text?
Where?
Why?
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Popular science
Invention
Choosing contents, message, level of abstraction,
perspective.
What content may interest the reader? (Or not)
Which perspectives?
Application?
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Popular science
Arrangement
Choosing structure, highlighting structure (with
paragraphs, headings, metatexts) introduction,
conclusion.
Introduction – create interest and curiosity.
Background – brief and objective, ”zoom out”.
Message – clear and distinct.
Main part of the text – explicate and motivate the
message.
Ending – conclusion, e.g. application, call, future.
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Popular science
Style
Words, expressions, composition.
What words and expressions should I choose?
Technical terms, everyday language?
Sentence structure?
Stylistic devices?
Illustrations?
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The title should …
•  start from something familiar and ordinary
•  highlight the key message
•  catch the reader
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Catchy titles
Guilt-free fossil fuels
First coal plants that clean up as they burn
(New Scientist 8 March 2014)
Higgs thunder
Listening in on the birth pangs of universe
(New Scientist 22 February 2014)
What’s inside a black hole?
Fuzzball, ice wall or unexploded bomb
(New Scientist 8 February 2014)
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The introduction should …
•  connect to the title
•  put your own work into a larger context
•  and ... make the reader go on.
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The end should ...
•  reflect the introduction
•  have a clear conclusion, e.g.:
- speculate on the implications of your results
- tell what issues remain to be answered
•  wind up nicely with a punch line.
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Stylistic devices
Concrete example
Let an example explain the general phenomenon
Snow flakes – fractals
Poker game – probability theory
Metaphor or analogy
Relates to something familiar
The Earth is a huge magnet.
The flow of electric current is like water in a garden hose.
Higgs thunder
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Personification
Abstract phenomena acquire human traits
... ”rogue" planets kicked out of our solar system eons ago.
(New Scientist 26 March 2014)
Thought experiment
Different premises
Imagine there is no oxygen in the atmosphere …
If we could travel through time …
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Rhyme and alliteration
Sound techniques that create emphasis
Fuzzball, ice wall or unexploded bomb
Big bang birthday: Six mysteries of a cosmic bombshell.
(New Scientist 22 February 2014)
Metatext
Comments on your own text
As I mentioned before …
Here will follow three examples ...
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On popular science writing
http://awelu.srv.lu.se/genres-and-text-types/
writing-in-academic-genres/popular-sciencewriting/
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Did the popular science writing contribute to your
understanding of the project or topic?
— The popular science writing gave me the chance to see the contents of
my project in a different light, like making a mind map. I got a clearer
picture of the subject.
— Yes, it made me think about the aim of my project (why my project is
important), something that I didn’t think about before.
— It made me ask myself how my results may come to use in the future.
— At the end of your education you may have forgotten how much you
have actually learned. When writing for "ordinary" people you get a
pleasant reminder of what you actually know about your own subject.
Pelger, S. & Nilsson, P. (2015). Popular science writing to support students’ learning of science and
scientific literacy. Research in Science Education, DOI: 10.1007/s11165-015-9465-y.
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How did the experience of the popular science writing come into use
when you wrote your scientific report?
— It helped me to see the wider perspective. It is very good to think it
through what makes your project interesting to the society.
— A lot, I wrote it before I finished my work since I couldn’t easily see how
to tie my subject together. The popular science writing helped me to
find a structure.
— It seemed particularly relevant to highlight the bigger picture, also in the
scientific report. It's easy to just reel off results without emphasizing
their importance. It may be important to guide the reader through the
scientific report as well.
— It is good to write a popular article because you have to think through
your results and what they mean before you can start simplifying the
text. The writing makes it easier to interpret your own results and
understand what they mean.
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What makes a text well-written ?
Traits in the genre of scientific writing:
•  Arguments that connect details and the whole, the specific
and the general.
•  Coherence – how the parts of the text are tied together.
•  How concepts are introduced and recur through the text.
(Kelly, G.J. & Takao, A. (2002): Epistemic levels in argument: An analysis of university oceanography
students’ use of evidence in writing. Science education 86: 314–342.)
•  The same goes for the popular science genre!
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Whole
Details
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Which are the writer’s benefits?
Popular science writing can help us ...
§  change and add perspectives
§  see the relevance of our project – to society and the
individual
§  develop our ability to critically reflect and bring forward
arguments
§  become aware of our own competence
§  develop our scientific writing skills as well.
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