Jessica Birthisel | June 29, 2010
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| Photo by Carol Polsgrove |
| Associate Professor Emerita S. Holly Stocking's new book is The New York Times Reader: Science & Technology. |
What is The New York Times’ history with science writing and how did the newspaper become incorporated with your book?
Congressional Quarterly Press approached me to create a collection of science writing stories from The Times for use by students of science writing. The Times, long considered one of the premier outlets for science writing, was willing to provide support for this endeavor, including involving some of its writers to talk about the joys and challenges of science writing.
When did you first become interested in science writing?
I wrote some science stories while a journalist, but it wasn't until I got to graduate school and began to learn about research design and run experiments that I realized I'd probably not done the greatest of jobs at conveying the science. The more I looked around, the more I realized that I wasn't the only one. There was a lot of mediocre — and truly rotten — science writing out there. Journalists were confusing correlation with causation. They were hyping the findings of science and the claims for new technology. They were treating emerging claims like the settled claims in textbooks. They were distorting findings and stereotyping scientists. I then did my dissertation in the area and began to write articles and do research that I hoped would help journalists do a better job of covering science.
Can journalists train themselves to do science writing, or does it require a certain type of thinking or knowing?
It helps to have a background in scientific research or at least in the culture of science. It helps to know that emerging science is not textbook science; unlike the more settled science of textbooks, the findings of emerging science are constant flux. It helps to have a mind that doesn't accept things at face value, but at the same time is open to evidence even if it challenges one's most cherished views and opinions.
Aspiring scientists — if they can write well — can make wonderful science writers because they tend to have all these things. But an aspiring journalist, with less training in science, can also do science writing; he or she just needs to possess a skeptical but open mind and be a very quick study.
What is the history of science writing curriculum at the IU School of Journalism?
The school has taught science writing as long as I can remember. I taught it while a Ph.D. student in the 1970s, and it's always attracted extremely bright and talented students from both the sciences and from journalism. It's been great fun to have both scientists and non-scientists in the same classroom.
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No one knows where science writing is headed, but I can tell you this much: It's going to be around in some form or another for a very long time. That's because countries invest a lot in science. In this country, we invest a greater proportion of our resources on research and development than any other country in the world. And developing countries are racing one another to invest more in science.
Science informs so much of our lives — our health, our environment, our relationships with one another, our place in the cosmos. The findings of science have so much to tell us, and we ignore the findings of science to our detriment and peril.
- For more information on the book, visit the publisher’s website.
- Read a story about J460 Science Writing, a class set for fall 2010.
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