Reads of the week April 17 2014
Science writing, climate change and news releases
Our favourite reads of the week April 17 2014:
This week, my favourite read has actually been a book. I can’t put it down, which I see as both a good thing and a frustrating thing at the same time. I bought The Science Writers Handbook to learn lots of somethings to improve my writing (just in time for their first birthday, so I hear! Happy birthday!). And I have. Not strictly from the tips that the Scilancer’s give, as they’re more intended as advice on how to navigate the turbulent waters of freelance-dom. I learned a lot from the way they write. Many of them say they struggle to get their ideas out fluently when writing their articles, often bashing their heads against keyboards and struggling against various types of procrastination, but you would never be able to tell. Their words are often poetic, fluent and incredibly easy to read. Thank you for putting this together!
It’s long, but I’ve just been enjoying reading about how to talk to climate sceptics. I’m definitely dubious of the concept of teaching a set of standard arguments, which seems a bit dogmatic to me, but there’s a collection of interesting arguments and data on this site, which has been good to get my teeth into!
I’m not a science writer, but I have a great interest in their role of disseminating science to the public. Journalists and media are key to making this happen. So, if journalists get science to the public… how does science get to the journalists? Typically, news releases. For my read of the week, a science writer discusses whether news releases are on their way out. I personally use news release distribution sites like EurekAlert! (covered in the article) to learn of the latest discoveries in my field — so this discussion was interesting to me.