The Science Blog
Popular science writing bridges the gap between scientific literature and political and cultural discourse. Designed to capture accuracy of science by investigating the methods, results, and implications of recent scientific developments. The goal of popular science writing is to make science more accessible to an audience outside its limited audience, but its purpose is to persuade readers of the validity (or lack of validity) of scientific observation. Popular science literature can be written by non-scientists, though these writers should ideally have expert knowledge of the field, topic, or discourse upon which they write as well as a basic understanding of the field’s research methods in order to dispense scientific knowledge ethically. Take, for example, the work of Eula Bliss, whose recent non-fiction book, On Immunity, explores the cultural fears swirling around the practice of inoculation. Or look at Mary Roach, a popular science writer responsible for several best selling popular science books: Stiff (2003), Spook (2005), Bonk (2008), Packing for Mars (2010) and Gulp (2013). But some scientists write popular science too. Evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould, for example, published a ground-breaking study (The Mismeasure of Man) exploring the political and cultural motivations undergirding the belief in biological determinism and exposing the problematic statistical methods used to reproduce the “data” used by scientists like Samuel Morton to support his claim about the biological superiority of the Caucasian race.
For this unit, you will create your own “short form” popular science blog in the style of Ed Yong, a science writer for National Geographic. We’ll break the work into more manageable assignments to assist you in the process of creating an interesting and affecting piece of popular science writing.
Task 1: Annotated Bibliography
Length: 4-5 sources with annotations
Manuscript preparation: CSE or appropriate citation format for your discipline
Prepare a list of 4-5 sources that you will use for your Unit Project, the literature review. Your sources should mainly come from scientific journals, although you may include an article or chapter from 1-2 books. Do not use Internet websites unless they are particularly credible, official, or important sources of information on your topic (i.e., official government websites, or vetted non-profit organizations). For each source, write a brief summary and evaluation. Consider these questions: What is the main claim or finding of the article? Why will this source be useful for your literature review? How helpful is the article to your research? How effective is it as a source?
Task 2: Science Summary/Proposal: The Query Letter
Length: 1.5 pages (max, single spaced), “letter” format
Manuscript Preparation: “letter” format (addressed to ME!)
Now that you’ve warmed up your analytical skills to discover what the science blog is, what it does, and how it works, you are ready for the next task, writing your own popular science article presenting original research, which you have gathered in your annotated bibliography. The object of this feeder assignment is to master the succinct summary and to learn out to draft a proposal or “Query Letter,” which is essentially a brief summary of your popular science article.
Query Letter Tips:
1. Give your article a headline (something catchy)
2. Open with what will be your lead-in, writing two-three paragraphs and then describe how you’ll cover the rest of the story (summarizing!)
3. NO MORE THAN 1.5 pages singled spaced
4. You should have enough research from your annotated bib to write a CONVINCING query (and giving sufficient summary), but you may end up doing MORE research in order to write the final article.
5. You need an angle!
6. If this was a REAL query letter, I’d also recommend reading other examples from the publication to which you plan to submit the query letter.
Journals I recommend for this assignment: PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), Nature Neuroscience, Nature Genetics, Nature Medicine, Science, Nature, Nature Communications, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association.
Final Project: Popular Science Blog
Length: 800-1200 words
Manuscript Preparation: Informal intext citations. Formal Citations in Works Cited
For this final project you will be creating your own science article and posting it to our class blog in the style of Ed Yong—making the article accessible and interesting to a broad general audience. Writing popular science requires two basic things:
- Cutting through the scientific rhetoric deployed in professional science writing by using language of appropriate formality (informal, popular). This may include eliminating or limiting jargon or adequately defining any jargon-y language you use. In other words, you’re making something that may seem complicated simple and easy to understand.
- Making the scientific findings relevant and interesting to a broad audience. This second part requires more finesse and creativity. Here is where you as a writer and thinker will shine. What connections can you make between the scientific research you’re relaying and current political, social, economic, or ideological concerns? What connections can you make between the scientific research and people’s everyday lives? How might this affect their lives or the decisions they make on a daily basis? How might this effect the way they view the world around them?