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Popular science writing

Susanne Pelger

Faculty of Science

Why? What? How?

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• Be able to write different kinds of texts in workinglife.

• 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 laypress in the transmission of medical knowledge to the scientific community. The New England Journal of Medicine 16: 1180-1183.).

• Popular science communication supports learning.

Why popular science writing?

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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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Questions to be answered

What makes thisresearch

interesting?

Which are the benefits for society?

What´s in it for me?

How can it be part of a larger context?

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Details

Whole

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Perspectives

Environment/sustainabilityMedicineEthicsEconomyLearning/teachingHistoryFuture…

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How should I write?

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• Analysis • Invention• Arrangement• Style

The canons of rhetoric

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AnalysisAdapting to rhetorical situation and audience.

Who is the reader? When does he/she read the text?Where?Why?

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InventionChoosing contents, message, level of abstraction, perspective.

What content may interest the reader? (Or not)Which perspectives?Application?

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ArrangementChoosing structure, highlighting structure (with paragraphs, headings, metatexts), the different parts of the text.

Title and introduction – create interest and curiosity. Background – ”zoom out”, a wider context.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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StyleWords, expressions, composition.

What words and expressions should I choose?Technical terms, everyday language?Sentence structure?Stylistic devices?Illustrations?

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• start from something familiar and ordinary• highlight the key message• catch the reader

The title should …

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Catchy titles

Solar super stormsHow they could impact our high-tech world(National Geographic, June 2012)

Higgs thunderListening 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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• connect to the title• put your own work into a larger context• and ... make the reader go on.

The introduction should …

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• 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.

The end should ...

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Concrete exampleLet an example explain the general phenomenonSnow flakes – fractalsPoker game – probability theory

Metaphor or analogyRelates to something familiarThe Earth is a huge magnet.The flow of electric current is like water in a garden hose.

Stylistic devices

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PersonificationAbstract phenomena acquire human traits... ”rogue" planets kicked out of our solar system eons ago.(New Scientist 26 March 2014)

Thought experimentDifferent premisesImagine there is no oxygen in the atmosphere …If we could travel through time …

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Rhyme and alliterationSound techniques that create emphasisFuzzball, ice wall or unexploded bombBig bang birthday: Six mysteries of a cosmic bombshell.(New Scientist 22 February 2014)

MetatextComments on your own textAs I mentioned before …Here will follow three examples ...

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Google imageshttp://images.google.com/

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On popular science writinghttp://awelu.srv.lu.se/genres-and-text-types/writing-in-academic-genres/popular-science-writing/

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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. (2016). 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.

Pelger, S. Popular Science Writing Bringing New Perspectives into Science Students' Theses. International Journal of Science Education, Part B. DOI 10.1080/21548455.2017.1371355. In press.

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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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Details

Whole

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Which are the writer’s benefits?

Popular science writing can help you ...§ change and add perspectives§ see the relevance of your project – to society and the

individual§ develop your ability to critically reflect and bring forward

arguments § become aware of your own competence§ develop your scientific writing skills as well.