About

This is an experiment, though not a scientific one.  We should know.

The premise of this space is that scientists could be better communicators on many different levels.  One place to start is through the written word.  Writing is a tool to clarify our ideas, as well as a means to get others to understand these ideas.  We spend time in front of chalk boards, behind podiums, standing on desks with bowling balls, or lying upon a table offering a bed of nails.  We think that this exudes understanding, and in some ways it does.  But it doesn’t tell the whole story.

So, this space allows some of us to practice.  Each month, one of us gives the rest of the group a topic.  This could be a single word, a topic sentence, a premise, a question . . . perhaps the creativity starts with the prompt itself.  The entire group, including the person who creates the monthly assignment, gets to write to that prompt.  Everyone gets to read each other’s work, comment, reflect, reconsider, etc.  There are no answers, no prizes, and no losers.  We’re just trying to get a sense for the craft, get better at writing, and perhaps even get better at communicating and doing science.