Scientists must write

Communicating information is an important part of science, whether it's writing a paper for a journal, recording the results of an experiment or giving a talk about a topic. However, it isn't always done very well. In 'Scientists must write', Robert Barrass has plenty of useful advice for those who wish to improve their scientific writing. Although it's only a short book, he manages to cover many different types of scientific communication, and goes through the stages of writing in some detail. I certainly think that this book will be a useful addition to the bookshelf of any scientist or science student.

The book starts with advice on how to organise your work - I guess that some people might find this a bit over-presciptive. It goes on to advise on the choice of words, and issues of spelling and grammar. This is followed by a look at the use of graphs, illustrations and tables of information in a document. There are two chapters which go into the detail of writing a scientific report, with plenty of checklists to make sure that you remember everything. The book also has chapters on how to find and cite information from other scientists, and on giving a talk on a scientific subject.