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Department of Medical Biochemistry, MUW(timothy.skern@meduniwien.ac.at)

Tim Skern

Communicating Science(in English)

© Tim Skern, 2006

Experience is the namewe give to our mistakes

- Oscar Wilde

Or:Good judgement comes from experience;

experience comes from bad judgement!

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• General

• Writing

• Speaking

Overview for today:

Telling a scientific story

• Why did you do something?(Introduction)

• What did you do?(Results)

• What did you discover?(Discussion)

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Telling a scientific story another way

• Tell them what you are going to tell them (Introduction)

• Tell them your story(Results)

• Tell them what you told them(Discussion)

• Clarity

• Brevity

• Coherence

Three important goals

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• Creativity

• Imagination

• Fantasy

i.e.: the same ones you need for science itself!

Three important attributes

• Learn from your mistakes!

• Learn to criticise yourself(i.e. suggest improvements yourself)

• Learn to accept criticism(i.e. listen to what others suggest)

Take-home message generally

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Writing scientific English

• Writing the manuscript - four months

• Number of versions - about seven

• Reviewer‘s comments - two sets(1st set: 3 pages of single-spaced comments)

• Time to publication - one year!

Publication parameters

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• Title page• Summary (Abstract)• Introduction• Material and Methods• Results• Discussion• References• Figures and figure legends• Tables

The scientific manuscript

• Title page• Summary (Abstract)• Introduction• Material and Methods• Results• Discussion• References• Figures and figure legends• Tables

The scientific manuscript

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Figures and figure legends

Figure 1. Inhibition of influenza virus replication by plant extracts.

1 = buffer control2 = aloe vera3 = strelitzia juncea4 = protea repens

3 4

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Inhi

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Plant extract2 3 4

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Figures and figure legends

Figure 1. Inhibition of virus replication by plant extracts.10 µl of each extract were incubated with 106 virus particles for 1 hour. The number of active virus particles remaining was then assayed on HeLa cells.

1 = buffer control2 = aloe vera3 = strelitzia juncea4 = protea repens

75

25

50

Inhi

bitio

n of

vira

l rep

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on (%

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Plant extract2 3 4

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• Once the figures are complete, write the results section. For example:

Results

Plants have provided many useful drugs. To investigate whether plant extracts might inhibit viral growth, we incubated virus X with the extracts shown in figure 1. Of the three extracts tested, only the aloe vera extract was active.

The scientific manuscript

The text and figures must read as a whole!

The rest writes itself.....

Fig. Legend

Fig. 1

Text

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• The results might continue like this:

Virus x is an enveloped virus. We therefore investigated whether the aloe vera extract would inhibit other enveloped viruses from different viral families. To investigate this, we incubated the extract with viruses y, z, q and j. Figure 2 shows the results.....

The scientific manuscript

• Writing the results can be summarised:

• The authors did something

• Something measurable happened (or did not happen, or happened in an unexpected way)

• As a consequence, the authors did the next experiment

The scientific manuscript

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• Writing the discussion can be summarised:

• Start with a summary

• Relate your work to that in the literature

• Finish with an outlook, but not too concrete

The scientific manuscript

• The discussion could be:

We show here that an extract of aloe vera can inhibit several viruses which cause disease in humans. Other plant extracts which could inhibit a particular virus have been described. However, none of them have been shown to inhibit a spectrum of viruses. Future work will concentrate on investigating the clinical potential of this extract.

The scientific manuscript

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• The Introduction could be:

Infectious agents cause many human diseases. For instance, HIV and other communicable diseases caused 50% of all deaths in South Africa in 2000.

Plant extracts are the basis for the treatment of many human diseases. For instance, artemesin from the xxx is being used to treat malaria.

We set out to discover whether plant extracts might be found which could inactivate the agents of other infectious diseases.

The scientific manuscript

• The methods - write down what you did! For example

Plants were obtained from A. Gardener. Extracts were prepared by crushing the leaves of each plant in liquid nitrogen as described by Smith and Jones......

Viruses were assayed on HeLa cells as described by Joklik et al (1956).

• If you use a published method, then cite it!

The scientific manuscript

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• The summary - write down the take-home message! For example,

We have investigated the anti-viral properties of extracts from aloe vera, strelitzia juncea and protea repens. Of the three extracts, only that from aloe vera showed any anti-viral activity. Furthermore, this extract was active against the viruses j, y and z, but not against q. The extract of aloe vera may prove useful in the treatment of diseases caused by these viruses.

The scientific manuscript

Specific tips for writing

• PARAGRAPHS

• SENTENCES- complete- simple

• OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS

Source: Elements of Style(1918) W. Strunk, jr.

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Specific tips for writing

• Use declarative sentences

• Understand joining words

• Write active sentences

• Write positive sentences

Source: Elements of Style(1918) W. Strunk, jr.

Scientific writing is formal

• No shortened forms(wasn‘t, didn‘t, isn‘t)

• Avoid „get“. Alternatives include:have, obtain, receive or just omit!

• Use brackets, avoid dashes!

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Vocabulary for scientific writing:

• Verbs for example:

• investigate, determine, examine, look into, illuminate, discover,change, substitute,, prove, disprove, test, probe, evidence, vary

• variable, variation, variety, variant

The English Language

• Contains about 615,000 words(excluding technical terms)

• 300 million native speakers(5% world population)

Ref: Bill Bryson, Mother tongue – The English Language

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Read your manuscript

• The first draft is never the last!

• Learn to improve your own writtenwork

Medical and psychological surveys were done on different body decoration fashion amongst people of young generation. Over 10000 were involved in the examinations including blood analyses on HIV and hepatitis B and C as well as psychological analyses. The results show a dependence of the rate of positive HIV and/or hepatitis B or C tests on the age and on the time when the body decorations were done. The psychological effects vary with the age.

The fashion of body decoration:risk of diseases and pyschological effects

Improve:

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Speaking the English Language

• Plus: relatively simple grammar

• Minus: pronunciation perverse!

• Consider: mint vs pintnature vs maturefood vs flood

Speaking scientific English:

• Best possible suggestion:

Quote:Sir Peter Medawar, Scientist, Writer and Nobel Laureatein “Advice to a Young Scientist” (1979)

Practise=

Make mistakes!!!

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What are the worst mistakes?

• Going over the allotted time

• Failing to set priorities(“to prioritise”)

• See Nature (2005) 434, 416-417

What are the most frequent mistakes?

• too fast, slow, quiet

• too much detail

• Illegible or overcooked visual aids

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More frequent mistakes?

• back to the audience

• no eye contact

• talking to just one person

Further frequent mistakes?

• no use of pointer

• abuse of pointer

The list is not comprehensive...

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Sorry, almost forgot:

• English grammar

• English pronunciation

• English problems are reallyat the end of the list!

Evidence to support this statement?

• ObservationNative English speakers can give terrible talks

• ConclusionEnglish proficiency is not the most vital skill

• In a well-prepared and coherent talk,language becomes secondary!

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One further tip for speaking:

• Try to speak without notes!

• Make your visual aids your notes

• As points on small cards

• Make a script (Drehbuch)

What did I tell you?

• Communicating science is :

• as important as doing the experiments

• a skill which can be acquired

• enjoyable and fun

Suggested improvements of above text:

Medical and psychological surveys were done on the use of body decorations

amongst 10,000 young people. The examinations included blood tests for the

presence of HIV and hepatitis B and C viruses. The results show that the incidence of

the rate of positive HIV and/or hepatitis B or C virus tests depends on the age of the

volunteer and on the time when the body decorations were done. Psychological

analysis shows that the psychological effects vary with age.

Deleted: different

Deleted: fashion

Deleted: people

Deleted: of

Deleted: generation

Deleted: Over

Deleted: 10000 were involved in t

Deleted: including

Deleted: analyses

Deleted: on

Deleted: as well as psychological analyses

Deleted: a

Deleted: dependence

Deleted: T

Deleted: the

Tim Skern’s eclectic book list 1. Coffeehouse notes on Virology by Tim Skern

Note form it is, but the English is very straightforward. 2. Witness to AIDS by Edwin Cameron

The background to the epidemic in South Africa, written in a moving way by an AIDS sufferer taking triple therapy.

3. Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux. Interested in the problems of Africa? This is an excellent introduction, but you decide for yourself on many of the issues.

4. "Longtitude" by Dava Sobel. Today, we navigate with GPS; 200 years ago, navigation was little more than guesswork. Read about the science and the people behind it all!

5. "Pasteur and Modern Science" by Rene Dubois.

I wager that Pasteur would have found a vaccine against HIV by now!

6. "The Power of One" by Bryce Courtenay. Injustice and hope in South Africa. This book kept me up till 5 o´clock in the morning. The sound track of the film is also worth a listen - so exciting!

7. "Out of Sight" by Ellmore Leonard.

How to fall in love in the boot of a stolen car - and how to learn how Americans really speak to each other.

8. "Fermat's last theorem" by Simon Singh.

But did Fermat really have a solution himself?

9. "Naturalist" by Edward O. Wilson. Harvard biologist, museum curator and winner of two Pullitzer prizes, one for a book on ants. I kid you not.

10. "On Giant's Shoulders" by Melvyn Bragg.

Melvyn interviews the famous about the lifes and times of great scientists. Find out about Darwin's views on Women and Marriage, why Newton was knighted and what life for Marie Curie might have been like.

11. "Bourbaki's Gambit" by Carl Djerassi.

Four pensioned scientists invent the polymerase chain reaction. Watch the fireworks as they fight for recognition and authorship.

12. "NO" by Carl Djerassi.

13. "Unweaving the Rainbow" by Richard Dawkins.

14. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig.

This book, written by a former biochemist, had a profound influence on me.

15. "The Affair" by C.P. Snow. The story of an investigation into possible scientific fraud in a Cambridge college.

16. "Lucky Jim" by Kingsley Amis. A more light-hearted look at British university life.

17. "The Double Helix" by James D. Watson. You'll love him or you'll hate him.

18. " The Dark Lady of DNA” Brenda Maddox. Setting the record straight.

19. "What Mad Pursuit" by Francis Crick. See above!

20. "The Blind Watchmaker" and "The Selfish Gene", both by Richard Dawkins. How to make a

difficult subject easier to comprehend.

21. "Memoirs of a Thinking Radish" by P. B. Medawer. Will I ever achieve his style?

22. "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. Don't go to the USA without having read this one! Let me know what you think of his style!

23. "Is Science Necessary? by Max Perutz. A collection of thought-provoking essays.

24. "Surely, You're Joking, Mr Feynmann?" by Richard P. Feynmann. A genius, pure and simple. 25. Mauve by Simon Garfield

Wealth and fashion from waste and sludge 26. Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

Why didn´t the Incas conquer Europe? 27. Nathaniel's Nutmeg by Giles Milton

Spices, wars and New Amsterdam 28. A Scientific Romance by Ronald Wright

What would you take on a trip 500 years into the future? 29. Code to Zero by Ken Follett

The space race as a background to the space race. Many useful scientific words 30. Enigma by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

Code-breaking in WWII as the start of computing 31. The Code Book by Simon Singh 32. Entdeckung der Langsamkeit by Sven Nadolny

Exploration as a paradigm for thinking before acting. Yes, I know it's in German. You can read it in English, if you want....)

33. The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

A life under the influence of the elements 34. The Silver Castle by Clive James

You may think learning English is hard, but imagine being an illiterate street boy from Bombay. 35. Catching Cold by Pete Davies

The background to the 1918 influenza outbreak. When will it happen again?

36. Loose Ends by Sydney Brenner Uncle Syd's advice to Scientists young and old.

37. Cantor's Dilemma by Carl Djerassi.

A Stanford Professor of Chemistry of Viennese origin pokes fun at University Science.

38. The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin. Part travel book on Australia, part anthropological theory, part linguistic theory, part evolutionary theory, this book is the most thought-provoking I have read in a long time. (It also contains an interview with Konrad Lorenz).

39. Marie Curie by Susan Quinn.

Apparently, the definitive biography.

40. The Cunning Man by Roberston Davies. Tale of an unusual doctor and English women in Toronto.

41. River out of Eden by Richard Dawkins.

More elegantly put ideas on evolution.

42. Porterhouse Blue by Tom Sharpe. s this what is wrong with British Universities?

43. Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen.

You may vow never to go to Florida after reading this. (Yes, I know he wrote Striptease, a turkey of a film starring Demi Moore, but the original book was extremely funny and full of insight into Miami life, not to say vice).

44. “And the band played on” by Randy Shilts. The first years of AIDS and HIV. Always be prepared to question everything written on AIDS

45. The number one ladies` detective agency by Alexander McCall-Smith. A different look at life in Botswana.

46. “Einstein in Berlin” by Thomas Levenson. Who chose Einstein’s second wife for him?