English Scientific Writing

Abstract

English Scientific WritingPublished Online:29 May 2014https://doi.org/10.1259/0007-1285-4-48-727SectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail AboutAbstractSome, years ago, the statement was attributed to Sir James Barrie that the man of science appears to be the only man who has something to say just now, and the only man who does not know how to say it. Without verifying the quotation, it may be admitted that it soundslike one of the remarks of that pleasant writer, though it does not seem to lie in his line of country. In the mouth of a literary man, the criticism looks rather as though it ought to have been made by Stevenson, who by his illustrious antecedents would have had the chance of observing any ground for such comments, and by his disposition would have been not disinclined to make it. It is, perhaps, not fanciful to imagine that the reason Stevenson made no such remark was that the scientific writing on which he was brought up did not suggest or justify it. At present, however, taking the statement to refer to the average scientific paper published in the English language, and to exclude some conspicuous exceptions, it cannot be denied that it is substantially true. Probably there is no country in which better scientific work has been done since science emerged from the dark ages than in the United Kingdom. Its quality does not seem to be falling off, and of late years its volume has been constantly increasing. Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 4, Issue 48December 1931Pages: 621-736 © The British Institute of Radiology History Published onlineMay 29,2014 Metrics Download PDF