#4

It is the responsibility of a science writer to decipher what mystifies the plain eye and remove the daunting stigma that surrounds ‘science.’ Science should not be tightly wrapped up with secrets and withheld from the public—it must be “given away,” spread throughout the population and made readily available to anyone who wants to know about it. This can be achieved through breaking down the rough concepts as much as possible—whenever writing for science, imagine yourself teaching the subject to a group of students in front of you. Do not assume that they have prior knowledge on the matter, so define any terms which are not commonly used in the English language. I am particularly experienced with this as I currently am a supplemental instructor for the introductory biology classes at school. Often, concepts and terms that I take for a given confuse the students who haven’t had as strong of a science background in the past. For them to understand it, I have to make it really simple. For them to be interested in it, I try to employ humor and real-life analogies whenever possible. I believe that someone who can take that kind of narrative when writing—as if they are a teacher—would be the most successful kind of writer.

Spreading awareness of science would benefit the common good in that people would understand what’s going on in the science world. Your doctor is telling you to take a brand new medication? A science writer reporting the emergence of this new drug should explain in plain terms why. Your preferred political candidate is discussing global warming? Science writing should help you understand what he or she is saying. A new chemical is being introduced into drinking water reservoirs and it’s harmful to you? You should know exactly what the effects of the chemical are. The responsibility of a science writer is to serve as a teacher to the public and make sure they are well-informed about their surroundings entirely.