The Craft of Scientific Writing, 3rd Edition

The goal of writing in science is to communicate information. Unfortunately too many people in science, including myself, write in a manner that is little more than unintelligible. Having read this book, I now feel sorry for the people who had to read my work. Too much scientific literature is poorly crafted and it is only natural that newcomers try to science emulate this poor style.As a reader of scientific literature, I always though there was something wrong with me because I could not read the articles. I would get stuck on a passage and, no matter how hard I tried, I would not be able to get past it. Now I know that this is because the writing is poorly crafted.The Craft of Scientific Writing gives an appreciation of the flaws that we all make in our writing. There are plentiful examples of poor writing, which are contrasted with good writing styles. Also, the explanations are clear and easy to understand.Despite appearances, there is no rule, man-made or natural, that says that scientific writing cannot be clear, crisp and fluid. If you write any kind of scientific literature do yourself a favour and read this book. It will help you to become a better writer.

I highly recommend this book for those of you who are inexperienced scientific writers. I am really struggling with scientific writing right now. Finding this book has been a blessing. It is very well written in that the language is simple and straighforward. Excellent examples are provided that have been very helpful for me such as: how to write using the active voice and first person (often frowned upon in scientific writing)effectively. I have had this book for about three months and it is already dog eared and filled with sticky notes. I am planning on ordering the e version as soon as I get my new kindle. This will decrease the weight of my bag since I carry it with me just about everywhere I go. I also think more experienced writers will benefit from this book. I have read many scientific articles by experts and some of them are very difficult to read due to unnecessarily long and complex sentences. This book gives some very good tips on how to keep sentences concise so that the complexity of the science can be better appreciated.

Received book in timely manner and is in good condition.

This is a really great book. It's very useful for preparing to write. It doesn't so much tell you what you need to include, so it's not a manual on what to write, but does a great job explaining how to get your message across in an effective way (major pitfalls to avoid, examples on how bad writing can be improved, etc).I definitely held on to this after the class was finished and I've gone back to it while working on my thesis.

Good and fast shipping. Good quality book. Reliable service and would buy from again. The book content itself is a little not useful and I don't think it was worth my money. I only bought it for a class textbook and it is all really common sense. It does not help you with scientific writing, it's more of a literature book about scientific writing (tells you writing style, don't be biased...). If you want a book/manual-type that helps you write an actual scientific paper/article then look for something else.

I required this book for my writing intensive course for doing my nursing PhD. It is good in helping you how to write and construct your work. We will be using this again during the next few years so it was essential I bought it.

It is now helping me during my struggling PhD life.

Unsurprisingly, this is a well-written book. It speaks about writing and presenting scientific ideas in a clear way, skewed no-doubt to novices such as myself. Many things seem to remain unspoken in academia, none more frustrating than those we are expected to just learn by trial and error. This book dispelled that notion for me by discussing mechanics and purpose of (scientific) writing, and the principles presented can be extrapolated to other audiences. It encourages new writers to give consideration to audience, purpose and voice to ensure strong, clear prose. I learnt as much from its own meticulous style and well-organised presentation as from the excerpts used to illustrate the differences between good and bad scientific prose.I don't think the baseball analogies/stories near the end were as universal as the author intended (being outside of the US as I am), but the quality of the prose pulled me through these very small sections. Eventually, I ended up enjoying the narrative and found much of my own inefficient process in it. I only wish I had read it sooner. Like at the start of my PhD.I look forward to a fully realised spin-off novella featuring Hank Wilson, The Distracting Colleague Extraordinaire-we all have one or have been one before.Let's hope this is the year for the 'Braves', eh?

This is now the only book that I recommend for those struggling with writing scientific documents. The author is clear, uses many examples and has a knack with language that makes you just want to read on and improve your craft. It actually makes me want to write!

This helped me with my university writing

Exactly what expected from the ad.

I truly recommend it for everyone focused on production of serious communication.So effective in straightforward style: being selective to choose words in avoiding needlessly complexities and avoiding ambiguities.