I’ve always felt like Sagan and Dawkins have a certain talent for writing so far beyond my own that they’re not even worth emulating. They write poetry. And in so doing, they manage to hide the process that created the work in the first place. That’s the reason it’s such a pleasure to read, but it doesn’t help me get there, if you know what I mean.
An example of an excellently written pop-science book where I could glean the rules that were being followed was Stumbling Upon Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. It’s very readable, and doesn’t feel “fake”, yet he clearly follows a fairly rigid formula. Each chapter seems to go something like this: “So, here’s a conundrum you can relate to. I’ll give that conundrum a cutesy name. Here’s a hard example where the conundrum is pretty easy to solve, after all, and an experiment to back up my reasoning, recounted in story form, not data form. The solution generalizes over . [then, the hard-hitting part] The conundrum, is solved by .”
I have not tried writing a popular book, so I can’t vouch for sure that the pattern I’ve noticed in Gilbert is all one would need to translate from science-speak to pop-speak… But it’s something I couldn’t help noticing when I read the book, such that your post made me think of it immediately. Maybe worth checking out.
Really? I felt like Dan GIlbert’s book was a bad attempt at writing a Dave Barry book, with some good and entertaining science thrown in. I enjoyed the book, but every paragraph seemed to have a joke shoe-horned in.
However, when I consulted the text to find an example, I couldn’t readily find one. Which is amusing, as part of the book deals with how inaccurate impressions can form lasting memories.
Still, I think lukeprog should aspire to a level higher than Gilbert.
Hmm.. Yes you might be right that lukeprog could do better. He’s already clearer, though less engaging for a popular audience. But I don’t think necessarily that learning the tricks that are so obvious in Gilbert precludes him from doing better. As my guitar teacher used to say: “you have to learn the theory, drive the theory into your head, and then forget it when the time comes to really play”. Also, it might be perfect for the rest of us mere mortals.
I’ve always felt like Sagan and Dawkins have a certain talent for writing so far beyond my own that they’re not even worth emulating. They write poetry. And in so doing, they manage to hide the process that created the work in the first place. That’s the reason it’s such a pleasure to read, but it doesn’t help me get there, if you know what I mean.
An example of an excellently written pop-science book where I could glean the rules that were being followed was Stumbling Upon Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. It’s very readable, and doesn’t feel “fake”, yet he clearly follows a fairly rigid formula. Each chapter seems to go something like this: “So, here’s a conundrum you can relate to. I’ll give that conundrum a cutesy name. Here’s a hard example where the conundrum is pretty easy to solve, after all, and an experiment to back up my reasoning, recounted in story form, not data form. The solution generalizes over . [then, the hard-hitting part] The conundrum, is solved by .”
I have not tried writing a popular book, so I can’t vouch for sure that the pattern I’ve noticed in Gilbert is all one would need to translate from science-speak to pop-speak… But it’s something I couldn’t help noticing when I read the book, such that your post made me think of it immediately. Maybe worth checking out.
Really? I felt like Dan GIlbert’s book was a bad attempt at writing a Dave Barry book, with some good and entertaining science thrown in. I enjoyed the book, but every paragraph seemed to have a joke shoe-horned in.
However, when I consulted the text to find an example, I couldn’t readily find one. Which is amusing, as part of the book deals with how inaccurate impressions can form lasting memories.
Still, I think lukeprog should aspire to a level higher than Gilbert.
Hmm.. Yes you might be right that lukeprog could do better. He’s already clearer, though less engaging for a popular audience. But I don’t think necessarily that learning the tricks that are so obvious in Gilbert precludes him from doing better. As my guitar teacher used to say: “you have to learn the theory, drive the theory into your head, and then forget it when the time comes to really play”. Also, it might be perfect for the rest of us mere mortals.