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Ann M. Penrose and Steven B. Katz. 1998. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press. [ISBN 0-312-11971-2. 321 pages, including index. $36.75 (softcover).]
Notice the subtitle of Ann Penrose and Steven Katz' new book: Exploring conventions of scientific discourse. That's what this book is about. It's a rhetorical analysis, an analysis of the social phenomenon of scientific communication and its rhetorical implications for several communication genresand, as such, it seems very good.
It is not, however, a skills book. It is not a practical, pragmatic guide on how to write in the sciences. It doesn't give a structured, step-by-step approach to writing or revising a primary research paper. It doesn't offer checklists of things to do or not to do. No sermons on accuracy, clarity, coherence, concision. No discussions of terminology, the merits of structured abstracts, redundancy between text and tables, or choosing the appropriate type of graphic. None of that.
The authors state in the preface that this book "can be used in scientific writing courses, in technical writing courses with large numbers of science majors, or by instructors in the sciences seeking to integrate writing into their undergraduate courses. It can also be used . . . by students and professionals seeking to polish the communication skills they use every day" (p. xi). It can be used in these settings, of course, but I wouldn't use it as the primary text for the reasons that follow.
The book is not designed to teach students how to write in and about science. Rather, it asks them to step back...