Re: paleonet Discussion: Anglo-Saxon Science ( ... ) rest of the world: Suggestions

[Bill Chaisson <chaisson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Later I found out (which might be ueseful for others) that
>in the English speaking world there are courses, even for the
>first semesters on "how to write a paper". The form is
>nearly "prescribed" (like, for good reasons, the formalized
>communication in air traffic), other items are formalized too.

I wish that these courses were offered more widely or that they were 
of better quality because I, as an American who majored in English in 
college, have great difficulties reading some of the papers in the 
scientific literature.  The syntax is tortured, the formalism 
deployed inelegantly and the style is generally riddled with 
colloquialisms from non-standard English and usages that represent 
hybrid matings of colloquial and formal English that have become 
traditional in "scientific writing".  Examples:  "due to the fact 
that" and "in regards to".

It has been my personal experience in multi-national settings, such 
as the Ocean Drilling Program's vessel, that European scientists are 
generally able to produce science manuscripts in the "Anglo-Saxon 
form" that are quite readable.

Prof. Smolka's comment that some European cultures regard writing as 
a sort of gift while the Anglo cultures regard it as merely a skill 
to acquire conforms well with my experience.  The European scientists 
tend to be quite self-critical about their manuscripts; they expect 
them to be artfully written and are disappointed with their efforts 
in another language.  This is in clear contrast to the attitude of 
most American scientists with whom I am familiar.  Most them regard 
the scientific manuscript as a form that must merely be filled with 
information in the accepted order.  This works, but doesn't make for 
very easy reading at times.

Bill
-- 
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William P. Chaisson
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Rochester                       ph  585-275-0601
Rochester, New York  14627  USA            fax  585-244-5689

http://www.earth.rochester.edu/chaisson/chaisson.html