Science and Technology By William Zinser

Science and Technology

By William Zinser

    William Zinser points out that writers are commonly afraid of writing about science and that scientists are afraid of writing. Zinser quickly establishes that these two things are unnecessary fears that are lugged around in life. He emphasizes that,

"Writing is not a special language owned by the English teacher... Science, demystified, is just another nonfiction subject. Writing, demystified, is just another way for scientists to transmit what they know." 

    William states that scientific information can be read by anyone, the matter is on how the sentences are put together. This means that when you are writing about something scientific you have to start small and vague and then get deeper into the subject. Also Zinser explains that when writing about a scientific subject things have to be broken down and explained how they work. Doing this will cause you to know what you are writing about and it will make the reader understand as well. The principle of leading readers step by step to a grasp of subjects that they thought they would never get, which is the same principle used in writing any nonfiction piece.

"Describing how a process works is valuable for two reasons. It forces you to make sure you know how it works. Then it forces you to take the reader through the same sequence of ideas and deductions that made the process clear to you."