Science Writing?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Craig Cardimon notes: <<I never thought of myself as a science  
writer. A technical writer, yes. Science writer, no.>>

Whereas I, who have done science writing, have always considered this  
to be just one specific form of the broader discipline of technical  
communication.

I stopped following the "is this technical writing/communication"  
thread early in the ensuing discussion because it had become clear  
that some of us (me, for example) treat the term as broadly  
inclusive, whereas others prefer to define the term more narrowly.  
Fine. Different strokes for different folks. I don't think we're  
going to get universal agreement on the definition until some ultra- 
powerful intergalactic travellers pop down for a visit, get bored  
with the debate, and unilaterally impose a definition on us, then  
vaporize anyone who can't cope. <g>

So who cares? If we can't agree on such a basic point, it seems clear  
to me that we need to do a better job of defining what we mean when  
we try to create such artificial categories*. If nobody agrees on the  
meaning of a phrase, then clearly the phrase is useless for its  
intended purpose, which is to consistently inform people what it is  
we do. That being the case, we might just as well say "I write  
manuals for computer software" or "I produce online help for the user  
interface of medical equipment" or "I edit journal manuscripts", and  
stop pretending we're in the same profession.

* As the joke goes, "there are only two types of people in the world:  
those who divide everything in the world into two categories, and  
those who don't".

Or perhaps we should move on to more productive topics, such as the  
number of angels who can dance on the head of a pin? That one  
certainly kept medieval theologians at each other's throats for  
centuries; don't see why it wouldn't do the same for us.


----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
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