... calculated all kinds of things with this theory. The firstthing I calculated was the rate of disintegration of the muon and the neutron. They should be connected to-gether, if this theory was right, ... is available from the British Library.would go no further—“30 percent; we cannot say morethan 30 percent”—till they were sure I had the message.Then they would shut theof ce door. “But let ... going to be all of them, or al-most all. This is going to be awful!—an old-fashioned epi-demic like none of us has ever seen!” The better the scien-tist, the larger the scruple and the more he...
... trigger their adrenaline. So they oftenthrive as staff, goaded on by the rest ofthe group (not tomention the boss). Gregarious types may not need goad-ing but wilt in a life that leaves them ... and fer-tilize and weed. There is work to be done. But the work paysoff biggest when the plants are right for the soil and micro-climate ofthe particular garden.Is there some subject or writing ... 115; for writing, 26 Science, viewed as a puzzle, 15–16 Science (journal), 68 Science News, 100–103; value of sub-scribing, 68 Science writers: education of, xii;temperament of, 5–6 (see alsoTemperament;...
... off by 7 percent.”Then I remember the 9 percent. It was like a predictionfor me: I went home and got this theory that says the neu-tron decay should be off by 9 percent, and they tell me the next ... “un-sure,” even when they are sure (in the ordinary sense), becausetheir idea of truth is so lofty. Also, they feel responsible notto scare the public.I well remember from the early 1980s not ... part, the best scientists agree on the currentbest theory, which they recognize because, well, it fits. It an-swers the most questions with the greatest precision and the fewest loose ends. There’s...
... again, so the scientist looks at nature and tries to understand it. The curiosityCHAPTERHistory and Nature of Science IN THIS chapter, you will read about what drives science, the nature of scientific ... Darwin caused a lot of controversywhen he presented his theory of evolution. There is stillsome debate on whether evolution theory should betaught in public schools. The natureof light was not ... you have found the correctchoice, quickly glance at the other choices to make surethat no other choice is better or more specific. Also,check whether one ofthe choices is “All ofthe above.”You...
... waterproof //wc:tCpru:f/ (a): waterproof clothes keep you dry because they do not let rain pass through them: không thm nc a waterproof jacket: áo ves-tông không thm nc IN THE KNOW: The ... KNOW: The penguins of Philip Island are very small, as can be seen in the photograph. They are also a tourist attraction. They walk along the same pathways from the sea to their nests every ... _________ in the headphones. 4. First, Soriah fed the cat. Then, she called her mother. Soriah _________ her mother after she _________ the cat. 5. First, Marie did her homework. Then, she...
... education, or interest in it. Science writers and editors needn’t start off knowingmuch science. Some ofthe best of them do, but some of the best of them don’t. They must, though, be able to ... intelligentquestions, and shake off the high intimidation quotient of adense, jargon-laden article in the Proceedings ofthe National Acad-emy of Sciences. Elise was a member of this breed; she was ... one way or the other, sitting beside her at her desk, the manuscript on the sliding desk tray between us, I learned.I can attest to the wisdom ofthe writerly injunctionsyou’ll find in these pages...
... nosy.A Matter of Attitude5terial as they do with the readers. Indeed, their curiosity andits fruits are a large part of what the reader senses, of whatlets the reader trust them—a process ... . . See you at the bar?” Ten minutes later,while the grousers were presumably at the bar, I walked by the room of exchange copies—and there was John Bethell,combing through other people’s magazines ... interesting about how the worldworks, and then another something, and another, and an-other. For the rest of your working life, you will get paid totalk to people and pass along the great stuff...
... of Being that inturn gives rise to appropriate Doing.You can spot the best mentors, like the best parents and the best shrinks, because their former protégés are out theredoing the work. They ... parties,people often tell me that they have decided they want to bewriters, and they’ll get started as soon as they have moretime, or when they have their study fixed up, or when theyget a new ... professionalnetwork as well, but the network is the least ofthe gift, be-cause a so-called “network” is really more like a tribe. If youare the right breed of cat for your mentor’s tribe, the net-work quickly...
... whole class of story ideas arrives from the otherdirection: from outside the world of research, in the form of a question, observation, or piece of news.To under-stand the phenomenon then brings ... you get the picture.Spot what appeals to the visual sense. Today’s technology lets uslook at everything from the eyes of flies to the birth of stars,from the bottom ofthe ocean to the everyday ... as for the rest of us, ideas spark each other off, showing theirfull size only as they connect. Sometimes it’s hard to knowwhat you think till someone asks the right question or offersone...
... needs. For example: the Insured, the Uninsured, the Doctor, the Insurance Company, the Taxpayer, the Hospital, the Residents and Medical Stu-dents, the Medical Teachers, the Makers of Medical Parapher-nalia ... it. The beauty of case studies is that they carry the readeralong on the wings of story, to which you can append pods of explanation as needed. At the same time, they anchor is-sues in the ... is the topic of this chapter. But first, let me recommend one more attitude: The science writer and the scientist are allies, sharing acommitment to science and the public understandingthereof—upon...
... too. The researcher will not mind. In fact, the better the scientificteam, the more the leaders seem to want to credit the juniorResearchand the Interview53large, basic chunk of knowledge; the ... yourtroubles a kiss and skootch them over. They will wait.Once in the room, there’s no rush to start. Allow a fewmoments for the two of you to get used to being in the same room, the process that I call ... Why this line of research and not someother? Why now and not before? Guaranteed, there must havebeen other ways to approach the issue, so what was the advan-tage of this one? The answers are...
... inter-views, the machine took enough attention that my rapportwith the other person suffered, plus I often lost track of the content. The problem is that, when I’m typing at the speed of speech, the ... and you’ll get a lotby osmosis. Science, the journal ofthe American Association for the Ad-vancement of Science, is also weekly, and its front section of science news is without peer. Because ... be some kind of big curiosity. Either way is fine.You can tell the phrase is athrowaway because if you remove it from the sentence,nothing happens. There’s no loss of meaning, only of achuckle...
... the close.“We could do a lot of good for other countries where theyreally do need the camels for meat,” Skidmore said.“Where they really do need them for milk.Where theydesperately need them ... another opener, by Cullen Murphy, from “Lulu, Queen of the Desert” (The Best American Science and Nature Writing, 2000,reprinted from the Atlantic Monthly), which relies largely on afillip of ... paintbrush.Yes, but the next morning you do the whole job in threehours, and there’s no need to razor the windows or scrubpaint off the floor. And it’s the same way with writing.Think about the readers,...
... magnifi-cent island.”Then I considered the essay’s title: The Island at the End of the Earth.” Hmm. In many seagoing cultures, the islandsat the end ofthe world are where the dead and dying ... albatross ap-pears out ofthe east, where high dark coasts open on the ocean horizon and the last sun ray glints on the windy seas of the Drake Passage. The group reaches the island. The author tells ... tears.Below the cliffs are black-rock beaches, and here the whitebreasts of king penguins shine against the stones. Nearer, the sun catches the gold ear patches behind the eye of swimming members of...