December 2011 - The ASJA Monthly

What’s In Store
Book Reviews by Melissa Gaskill
Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us, by Joe
Palca and Flora Lichtman. John Wiley & Sons,
2011, 262 pages, hardback. $25.95
This book explores the science of what annoyance
is and why things trigger it. Something
remarkably similar to annoyance occurs
across a broad spectrum of the animal kingdom,
so it clearly serves some purpose, perhaps
reminding us of what we should avoid
to survive.
Certain annoyances have to do with personal
sensitivities. Others seem to transcend
race, gender, age, and culture. One of the latter
is overheard cell phone conversations—in part because unpredictability
and annoying-ness correlate. With our brains trained
to pay attention to dialogue, and to predict what comes next,
hearing one side of a conversation is annoying. Palca, a science
correspondent for National Public Radio, and Lichtman, multimedia
editor for Science Friday, examine those things we find
annoying, including sounds, smells, minor problems, change,
and minor injustice.
It isn’t possible to simply ignore something annoying; you
have to focus on something else. Studies using fMRI (functional
magnetic resonance imaging) show annoyance involves the part
of the forebrain that serves as a gatekeeper between automatic
processes and more conscious, fact-based ones. The brain chemical
oxytocin also appears to play a role in annoyance, more evidence
that annoyance played some protective function for our
early ancestors—an irritant alarm of sorts.
Journalists work with a wide variety of people and settings,
offering plenty of opportunity to be annoyed. Research suggests
that people have no idea when they’re annoying, so when
faced with a client or interview subject who is, the burden falls
on you to keep things civil and get through the encounter as well
as you can. Will the knowledge that something is annoying help
us overcome it Probably not, the authors conclude. Now that’s
annoying.
The Craft of Scientific Communication by Joseph
E. Harmon and Alan G. Gross. The University of
Chicago Press, 2010, 220 pages, paperback. $20.
Scientists who write readable, understandable prose can
help the rest of us better understand scientific papers to do our
jobs better, too. The authors analyze the various parts of a scientific
paper, beginning with the introduction, which contains a
An independent journalist for 17 years, Melissa
Gaskill writes about science and travel, primarily the
outdoor, active kind. She’s an avid camper, hiker,
kayaker, and scuba diver and is the author of Best
Hikes with Dogs: Texas Hill Country and Gulf Coast
(Mountaineers Books), now in its second printing.
She’s currently working on a book about sea turtles.
statement of the problem and the approach
to solving it, and should tell readers up front
why it matters that a scientist solved this
particular problem.
Abstracts, often the only part people
read, tell what was done and how, and what
was discovered. Good abstracts also persuade
people to keep reading by telling them
why this is important. Titles help scientists,
and us, find relevant studies.
Results and Discussion sections contain charts, tables,
graphs and illustrations. Text generally includes comparisons to
other work, and explanation of the qualifications and limitations
of the current work. The Conclusion section is a good place to
consider the “so what” question, and it sometimes includes anticipated
or needed further study. The Methods section is essential
because it tells us why we should believe the rest of the paper.
The book also covers grant and proposal writing, writing
for the public, giving scientific talks, as well as writing style and
common pecadillos of science writing.
Communicating scientific information is a long-standing
tradition—since the 1600s, who knew—and still important today.
Scientific papers are the first step in that process; the next
steps are our responsibility as professional writers. If you write
about science, this book may help you do it better.
Sixty Candles: Reflections on the Writing Life, by
members of the American Society of Journalists
and Authors. iUniverse, 2008, 167 pages, paperback.
$14.95
This isn’t a new book, but it never received
a review in our own journal. In this,
my last review column, I right that egregious
wrong.
Sixty Candles contains short pieces contributed
by ASJA members of all types and
stripes (which, I must say, made reviewing
this book a bit daunting!). The first two entries,
from founding members, give a bit of
insight into the origins of the organization.
Topical chapters follow: in Becoming a Writer, members share
their funny, touching, and tragic tales of early days. In Chapter
2, The Writer’s Life, you’ll no doubt find a lot of common ground.
Perhaps it’s Tim Harper’s exchange with a parent at a rec league:
“My husband would love to help coach, but he works.” Tim: “I
work, too.” Parent: “Oh...somebody told me you were a writer.” Or
maybe the advice of a fellow writer to Cindy La Ferle: If you’re not
getting rejection slips, you’re not aiming high enough or sending
out enough material. (Yeah, that’s it! I’m aiming high!) Or,
Linda Eve Diamond’s favorite question: “Are you a real writer”
Chapter 4, Telling Stories, chronicles the ups, downs, and weird
in-betweens of this profession/calling/art. At least one is bound
to be stranger than yours. You’ll find practical stuff in Chapter 5,
Seasoned Advice—get organized, don’t listen to negative voices,
18 THE ASJA MONTHLY DECEMBER 2011 WWW.ASJA.ORG