Strunk and White, The Elements of Style
This small book contains many useful hints on grammar, punctuation, and style that will serve as a short review of some important aspects the English language. Most importantly, it reminds scientists to write in a simple, direct and informative style that avoids many of the worst habits we unconsciously emulate and adopt. It has become a much-used classic reference.
It
is not necessary to purchase this book because several references on the
Internet quote all or most of the book. One of these that uses the original
edition of the book (by Strunk) is:
http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html
We
will review one or two sections of this text that will be important for the rest
of the course.
Martha Davis, Scientific Papers and Presentations
Chapters
1 - 2.
1
The Semantic
Environment of Science
Part II - Written Communication
Martha Davis, Scientific Papers and Presentations
Chapters 3 - 12. This is the most important part of the course, because it acts as the basis for all communications in science. We will go through each chapter in detail and discuss ways in which the guidelines apply to Earth Science publications.
3 Organizing and Writing
a Rough Draft
4 Searching and Reviewing
Scientific Literature
7 Publishing in
Scientific Journals
8 Style and Accuracy in
the Final Draft
Part III - Oral and Poster Communication
Martha Davis, Scientific Papers and Presentations
Chapters 13 -16 and 18 cover the following topics:
13
Scientific
Presentations
14 Communication Without Words
15 Visual Aids to Communication
16 The Oral Presentation
17 Poster Presentations
18 Group Communications
19 Communicating With
Other Audiences
We will add Power Point Presentations. Also, we will end the course with the requirement that students do a full sized poster on a topic of their choosing.
Part IV – To the International Student
Martha Davis, Scientific Papers and Presentations
Chapter
20 discusses in fascinating detail the attitudes between NA students and foreign
students and how they differ. It is required reading.
Appendices
1 Weaknesses in
Scientific Writing
2 The First Draft
3 Sample Manuscript
4 Sample Literature Review
5 Sample Proposal
6 Alternate Routes to the Thesis
7 Sample Review of
Manuscript Submitted for Publication
8 Evolution of a Title
9 Evolution of an
Abstract
10 Putting Data into
Tables and Figures
11 Sample Letter
Requesting Copyright Permission
12 Use of Color in Visual
Aids
13 Sample Slides and
Slide Set
14 Oral Presentations at
Meetings
15 Sample Text for Poster
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