My research work is moving from writing code to explaining the software that I’ve written. In general, I enjoy learning about language, and I picked up this book to extend my knowledge as well as to refresh myself on good practices for scientific writing.

Scientific writing is often dry and difficult to understand – but as Greene points out, it doesn’t have to be. By following good writing practices (in the tradition of the famed Strunk and White), scientific writing can be engaging and transformative. Indeed, the best grant proposals (read: funded grant proposals) and the most impactful papers use disciplines of plain English to communicate profound truths about nature.

Greene’s book is organized into eleven short chapters and two appendices. (One of the chapters – on parallel structure – is a measly three pages!) Each chapter is concisely written. This allows the reader to digest a topic quickly, to practice the principle through exercises, and to reenter life more skillful.

So much of good writing is getting one’s own self out of the way so that the truth of the matter can speak for itself. This book teaches small but powerful disciplines to writers of science that they might communicate more effectively. What’s the point of studying to the point of mastery if you cannot communicate your results? Because of this, I say that all scientists should study writing, and this is an excellent vehicle for doing so.

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