1. Semana Siete
Introducción a la Escritura
Científica
Estas notas tienen la intención de ayudarle en
la redacción y desarrollo de trabajos científicos. Las
gráficas son de The Craft of Scientific Writing (3rd ed.,
Springer-Verlag).
On these notes pages, the page and chapter numbers refer to The Craft of
Scientific Writing, 3rd edition (Springer-Verlag, 1996). Also referred to is the
“Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students,” which can be
found at the following address:
http://filebox.vt.edu/eng/mech/writing/csw.html
At that page, you will find links to the “Writing Exercises for Engineers and
Scientists” and to the “Handbook for Instructors.” Note that students can easily
return to their course syllabus by clicking on the “Writing Courses” link on any
page in the “Writing Guidelines” and then finding their course in the
alphabetical listing.
1

2. Introducción a
la Escritura
Científica
Pero en la ciencia el crédito va
al hombre que convence al mundo,
no a aquél que se le ocurre la
idea primero.
Sir Francis Darwin
This visual is a title visual for an introductory lecture about writing in
engineering and science. Here you have the opportunity to give your testimony
as to the importance of writing in engineering and science. This visual is also
an opportunity for you to give an overview of the kind of writing that students
will do in your course.
Note that these visuals use the term “scientific writing” to encompass the
writing done by engineers and scientists and the term “scientific documents” to
encompass the documents written by engineers and scientists. Why not use
“technical writing” and “technical documents”? I chose not to because these
latter two terms have come to include many different kinds of writing that are
not written by engineers and scientists—a police report being one example. If
you prefer the more general term “technical,” you can use the Replace
command to replace “scientific” with “technical” throughout. Likewise, if you
desire a term more specific than “scientific,” you can use the same command
to insert your preferred term (“engineering” or “biological” would be two
examples). Note that all future references to chapters and pages are for The
Craft of Scientific Writing (3rd edition).
2

3. Vd ha estudiado mucho sobre escritura
porqué estudiar escritura científica?
Primaria Preparatoria
fonética análisis de literatura
ortografía escritura de ensayos
escritura de oraciones escritura creativa
Secundaria Primeros semestres
grámatica escritura de agumentos
puntuación escritura informativa
escritura de párrafos
Universidad y posgrado
??????
??????
??????
Many students in engineering and science feel as if the study of writing is
unnecessary for them. Writing is a freshman subject, they might say. With this
slide, I try to have them realize that writing is a craft with many skills that they
continually improve upon. In fact, the process of learning to write does not end
with this course, but continues through their professional careers.
3

4. Muchos aspectos diferencian la escritura
científica de otros tipos de escritura
• Complejidad de temas de ingeniería y ciencias
matemáticas importancia en detalles
imágenes complejas número de variables
• Propósitos de la escritura científica
informar
persuadir
• Limitaciones de ingenierios y científicos
audiencia mecánicas procesos, fechas
formatos políticas formalidad
• Estilo en escritura científica
estructura
lenguaje
ilustración
With this slide, I impress upon the students the differences between scientific
writing and other types of writing that they have studied. While the students
will draw upon many of the things that they have learned in other writing
courses, students have to be critical thinkers as far as taking advice that may
pertain to literary writing or journalism and applying it to scientific writing.
For instance, in scientific writing, the most important goal of language is
precision--a goal that poets sometimes subordinate for the sake of rhythm.
(pages 1-2)
4

5. Para empezar un documento científico
Vd deberá analizar primero sus limitaciones
Políticas
Audiencia
Quiénes son?
Formalidad
Ortografía?
Qué saben? Documento Puntuación?
Por qué están leyendo?
Cómo lo leerán? Uso de la formalidad?
Formato Proceso
Diseño? Fecha límite?
Tipografía? Colaboración?
Ética
This visual is perhaps the most important visual of the set because it shows
what constraints students are under as they begin writing a scientific
document. In other words, this visual tells students where they should begin
the writing process (an assumption here is that the students understand the
content of their document and now must communicate that content). The
constraints of audience, politics, and format are discussed in Chapter 1.
Format is also discussed in Chapter 16 and in the “Writing Guidelines for
Engineering and Science Students.”
The constraint of process refers to how the student actually puts words onto
paper. Will the student write as an individual or part of a group? Does the
student have a fixed deadline? Chapter 17 discusses this constraint in more
detail. Formality refers to the expectations that the audience has as far as
mechanics, which is also discussed in Chapter 1, Appendix A, and Appendix
B. Interactive exercises for mechanics can be found in the “Writing Exercises
for Engineers and Scientists.”
On this visual, you should make it clear to the students that no simple recipes
exist for the challenging documents that they will have to write. Students
should assess the audience, format, formality, and other constraints of the
situation before committing words to paper. The visuals that follow elaborate
on each of the constraints.
5

6. Ingenieros, científicos, y profesionales técnicos
frecuentemente escriben para diversas audiencias
Quién es la audiencia?
Qué saben del tema?
Por qué están leyendo
este documento?
Cómo leerán el
documento?
Ingenieros Ingenieros Fuerza
en dinámica en materiales Áerea
Often in scientific writing, engineers and scientists write to more than one type
of audience. The picture above from a the design of a new parachute for the F-
111 fighter jet illustrates this case. The engineers at Sandia National Labs who
designed the new parachute had three distinct audiences given on the slide.
(pages 3-6)
6

7. Formato, otra limitante, es el arreglo de
su escritura
tipo de letra
tamaño de letra
alineación
espaciamiento
longitud
de línea
espacios
en blanco
Information about the constraint on format in scientific writing can be found
on pages 6-7 and Chapter 16.
7

8. Existen dos tipos de letra:
serif y sans serif
Times New Roman Arial
abcdefghijklmnopqr abcdefghijklmnopqr
stuvwxyz1234567890 stuwxyz1234567890
Serif font Sans serif font
Diseñado para periódicos Tipo de letra popular
Usos: grandes cantidades Usos: encabezados,
de texto y visuales,
encabezados posters
Information about selecting typefaces in scientific writing can be found on
pages 222-226. I discuss this aspect early in courses because it is so practical
and applies to every assignment that the students submit.
8

9. Con el formato, evite párrafos con letra mayúscula
PALABRAS, TODAS EN Palabras, todas en
MAYÚSCULAS, UTILIZAN mayúsculas, utilizan un
UN ESPACIO espacio significativamente
SIGNIFICATIVAMENTE mayor – hasta el 35 por
MAYOR – HASTA EL 35 POR ciento – que el mismo escrito
CIENTO – QUE EL MISMO en letras minúsculas.
ESCRITO EN LETRAS
MINÚSCULAS.
TYPE IS TO READ Type is to read
Information about avoiding all capitals in scientific writing can be found on
pages 225-226. When showing this slide, I tell the students how much more
space the paragraph on the left takes up as opposed to the paragraph on the
right, which has the same number of words. I also ask them to think about
presentations they have seen in which the presenter has used slides with all
capitals--how tiring those presentations often were because the audience had to
read each letter on the presentation visuals. I also mention to students how
much faster it is to read words set in lowercase because we can recognize them
by the ascenders and descenders, rather than having to read every letter.
9

10. Elija un tamaño que sea fácil de leer
48 point posters
36 point
visuales
24 point
18 point títulos
14 point
12 point
texto
10 point
8 point pies de página
Information about lettering size in scientific writing can be found on pages
224-225. When showing this slide, I tell the students the story of a symposium
in which one person in the large lecture hall became so disgruntled with the
presenters, who simply photocopied their 12-point papers onto overhead
transparencies, that the person stood up in the middle of one presentation,
pulled out a pair of binoculars, and focused on the screen. The audience, who
could not see what was on the screen, soon noticed this person and began
laughing. Given the commotion, the presenter just turned off the overhead
projector and began speaking without transparencies. I have no sympathy for
this presenter--showing transparencies that the audience cannot read is
impolite.
10

11. Limitaciones también surgen de políticas y ética
Lo que puede ser dicho:
límites de la propiedad de información
límites de información clasificada
Lo que debe decirse:
consideraciones éticas de la seguridad
consideraciones éticas de la propiedad
Information about politics and ethics can be found on pages 8 and 9.
11

12. Formalidad también afecta la gramática,
puntuación y uso del lenguaje
Informal
Fragmentos estilísticos
permitidos
Comas usadas informalmente
Uso casual (“un montón”)
Formal
Únicamente oraciones
completas
Reglas estrictas de comas
Uso formal (“demasiado”)
One confusion that students have is that they see grammatical rules broken in
some situations. Students have to realize that they must be critical thinkers
when it comes to grammatical rules. Informal situations, such as brochures,
allow writers to use fragments, but in formal situations such as reports, writers
are obliged to write solely in sentences.
12

13. Errores comunes
de Gramática,
Puntuación y Uso
del Lenguaje
Las marcas de puntuación son las señales de
tráfico colocadas en el camino del lector … Los
ingenieros de tráfico no siempre están de acuerdo
,
con qué signos deberían de usar ni dónde
colocarlos; tampoco los escritores ni los editores.
Theodore Bernstein
The Careful Writer
Opening visual for discussion of grammar, punctuation, and usage. Many
teachers and students consider discussion of these topics as trivial, but it is
interesting how some of these rules change over the years and how some of
these rules depend upon location. These changes cause all sorts of disputes,
especially in engineering and science because many engineers and scientists
look for rules without exceptions. English is a language of exceptions. Also
interesting to note is that students often complain about grammar, but English
has few grammatical rules compared with other languages such as German.
Strictly speaking, grammar refers to the order of words to produce meaningful
sentences. What’s probably most difficult about English is usage because
English is such a hodgepodge of other languages. (Appendix A, Appendix B)
The quotation on this visual comes from Theodore Bernstein’s The Careful
Writer (Atheneum, 1969). Bernstein served for years as a consulting editor for
the New York Times.
13

14. Como profesionistas, escribimos en oraciones
– no en ideas incompletas o fragmentos
El Rubidio no tiene usos mayores, sin embargo, Incompleto
es más común de encontrar en la tierra que el
zinc, cobre o nickel.
Aunque el rubidio no tiene usos mayores, es más
común en la tierra que el zinc, cobre o nickel.
Varios sistemas pueden detectar explosivos
plásticos. Por ejemplo, el sistema de activación Fragmento
térmica de neutrones.
Varios sistemas pueden detectar explosivos
plásticos. Un ejemplo es el sistema de
activación térmica de neutrones.
With mechanics (grammar, punctuation, and usage), I have a bias as far as the
most egregious error that a student can make, and that error is not
understanding what constitutes a sentence. The sentence is the fundamental
unit of expression in professional writing. If a student does not understand
what constitutes a sentence, then he or she is far behind as being able to
communicate as a professional. The most common mistake as far as running on
a sentence occurs in the top example. Here, the student does not recognize that
“however” is an adverb, and therefore cannot join two independent clauses.
In showing this visual, I cover up the column on the right and ask the students
what each group of words is: a sentence, a run-on, or a fragment. A brief
discussion of sentences and run-ons is found on pages 258-259. Also, an
interactive exercises on sentences, run-ons, and fragments can be found at the
“Writing Exercises” link on the “Writing Guidelines for Engineering and
Science Students” (http://www.me.vt.edu/writing/).
14

15. Colocar un modificador en su lugar correcto es
también importante en la gramática
El primer paso es encontrar una impresión
latente. Después de ser detectado, debe empolvar
la impresión con talco.
El primer paso es encontrar una impresión
latente. Después de detectar la impresión, la
empolva con talco.
En aguas de baja temperatura y altos niveles de
toxididad de aceite, probamos qué tan bien los
microorganismos sobrevivieron.
Probamos qué tan bien los microorganismos
sobrevivieron en aguas de baja temperatura y
altos niveles de toxididad.
Another common grammatical error is the misplacement of modifying phrases
or words. Termed a misplace modifier or dangling modifier, this error
commonly occurs with introductory participial and prepositional phrases. It
also commonly occurs with the word “only.” In showing this visual, I cover up
the revisions and the X’s, and ask the students to identify where in the
following sentences there are errors as far as placement of modifiers. A brief
discussion can be found on pages 92-93.
Moreover, an interactive web exercise on placement of modifiers (Grammar
#2) can be found at the “Writing Exercises” link on the “Writing Guidelines
for Engineering and Science Students” (http://www.me.vt.edu/writing).
15

16. Hacer listas paralelas es otro aspecto importante
de la gramática
Animales que entran en contacto con aceite
pueden desarrollar ronchas, comezón, y
pueden abandonar el área.
Animales que pueden entrar en contacto con el
aceite pueden desarrollar ronchas, comezón, y
desarrollar tendencias migratorias.
O mejor aún
Animales que llegan a estar en contacto con el
aceite pueden desarrollar ronchas y comezón,
y pueden abandonar el área.
Another common grammatical error is faulty parallelism. This error commonly
occurs with lists. In showing this visual, I cover up the revisions and the X’s,
and ask the students to identify where in the following sentence there is a
parallelism error. A brief discussion can be found on pages 37-40 and 259.
Moreover, an interactive web exercise on faulty parallelism (Grammar #2) can
be found at the “Writing Exercises” link on the “Writing Guidelines for
Engineering and Science Students” (http://www.me.vt.edu/writing/).
16

17. Refrerencias a pronombres indefinidos
pueden casuar ambigüedades
Porque el receptor presentó el radiometro con
un ambiente con alto nivel de flujo, fue montado quién????
en un contenedor de acero inoxidable.
No existen picos en la región olefínica. Por lo
tanto, no existe una significativa concentración de
hidrocarbonos olefínicos en aceite fresco. Esto Ésto?????
pone un límite superior a la concentración de
olefines.
Aunque los errores de diseño del Titanic fueron
conocidos después de su hundimiento en 1912,
las razones para un daño severo causado por el
iceberg permanecieron como un misterio hasta su su??????
descubrimiento en 1985.
Another common grammatical error is ambiguous pronoun reference. This
error commonly occurs with the pronouns “it,” “they,” and “this.” In showing
this visual, I cover up the right column and ask the students to identify where
in the following sentences there are ambiguous pronoun references. A
discussion of pronoun references can be found on pages 93-94.
Moreover, an interactive web exercise on ambiguous pronoun references
(Grammar #2) can be found at the “Writing Exercises” link on the “Writing
Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students”
(http://www.me.vt.edu/writing).
17

18. Comas separan los detalles en una oración
Comas separan las frases introductorias y cláusulas
Después de enfriar los gases expelidos continuan
Después de enfriar, los gases expelidos continuan
Comas separan detalles en paréntesis
La vívora de Russell, la cual es mortal requiere precaución
La vívora de Russell, la cual es mortal, requiere precuación.
Comas separan los elementos de una lista
Los gases probados fueron metanol, etanol puro, metanol puro
con 10 porciento de agua y entanol puro con 10 porciento de
agua
Los gases probados fueron metanol, etanol puro, metanol puro
con 10 porciento de agua, y entanol puro con 10 porciento de
agua
Compared with other pieces of punctuation, commas probably cause the most
problems for students. Three common comma errors are given on this visual. A
discussion of commas can be found on pages 94-96 and 262-264.
Moreover, an interactive web exercise on commas can be found at the at the
“Writing Exercises” link on the “Writing Guidelines for Engineering and
Science Students” (http://www.me.vt.edu/writing).
18

19. (En Inglés) Two common usage errors are
possessives and subject-verb disagreements
The criteria for assessing the environmental effects of
acid rain (are / is) given in the next section. are
So far, the daily number of engineers applying (has / has
have) remained constant.
The goggles protect a (persons / person’s) eyes from person’s
any damaging effects that a laser could cause.
In accordance with my (boss’ / boss’s) schedule, the boss’s
first series of computers was replaced.
This visual shows two types of common usage errors: possessive errors and
subject-verb disagreements (sometimes catalogued under grammatical errors).
In showing this visual, I cover up the revisions and the X’s, and ask the
students to identify where in the following sentences there are subject-verb
disagreements or possessive errors. Discussions of these errors can be found on
pages 260-261 and 271-272.
Note that non-native speakers of English have particular problems with
subject-verb disagreements and should seek advice from an English as a
Second Language (ESL) text. Also note that these students have different
problems depending on what their native language is. An interactive web
exercise on subject-verb disagreements (Grammar #2) can be found at the
“Writing Exercises” link on the “Writing Guidelines for Engineering and
Science Students” (http://www.me.vt.edu/writing).
Americans of German or Scandinavian descent often have problems with
possessives. An interactive web exercise on possessives occurs at the same
web address as given above.
19

20. Ciertas palabras son comunmente mal utilizadas
Producimos una pequeña (cantidad, número( de Número
autos este año, aún (más pocos, menos) que el menos
año pasado
sus
El éxito de una compañía depende de (su, sus)
empleados
El nuevo material está (compuesto, conformado)
por plásctico e iodine. compuesto
Parece (como si, si) el Departamento de Energía
elegiría la tercera opción.
Como si
This visual shows common usage errors that occur in engineering and science.
In showing this visual, I cover up the answers on the right, and ask the students
to identify which word is correct in each of the sentences. Discussions of these
errors can be found in Appendix B.
Moreover, an interactive web exercise on usage can be found at the “Writing
Exercises” link on the “Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science
Students” (http://www.me.vt.edu/writing).
20

21. Ciertas palabras con comunmente mal utilizadas
La reducción de peso fue la (principal, primera) razón principal
para escoger aluminio.
La plática se centro (sobre, acerca) el (principal, sobre
principio) del trabajo virtual. principio
(Desgraciadamente, por desgracia), el lanzamiento fue Desgracia
aplazado por tormenta. -damente
Tu no necesitas proceder (más lejos, adelante) en tu adelante
prueba.
La cerilla tiene serios (efectos, afectos). efectos
This visual shows more common usage errors that occur in engineering and
science. In showing this visual, I cover up the answers on the right, and ask the
students to identify which word is correct in each of the sentences. Discussions
of these errors can be found in Appendix B.
Moreover, an interactive web exercise on usage can be found at the “Writing
Exercises” link on the “Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science
Students” (http://www.me.vt.edu/writing).
21

22. “No palabras”y agrupamientos sin sentido
causan problemas
Cualquier diseño que elijas (está bien, es bien) Está bien
conmigo
(Sinimportar, Sin importar) la demora por la entrega, el Sin importar
trabajo se detendrá por la huelga.
Aplicando ese juego de limitaciones es una forma única
(única, casi única, muy única) de resolver el problema.
La cerilla tiene (unmontón, un montón) de efectos. Un motón
This visual shows more misuses of language that occur in engineering and
science. In showing this visual, I cover up the answers on the right, and ask the
students to identify which word is correct in each of the sentences. Discussions
of these errors can be found in Appendix B.
22

23. Podemos dividir el proceso de escrbir en
etapas
Entrando en la idea Escribiendo el primer borrador
Revisar, revisar, revisar Terminar
Discussion of making the process of writing more efficient to perform can be
found in Chapter 17. When I first started teaching, I discussed the process of
writing towards the end of the course. Recently, I’ve begun incorporating
discussions of it throughout the course, particularly just before assignments are
due.
23

24. Si no puede controlar las limitaciones,
puede controlar el estilo
words
Ilustración wordswords
wordswordswords
wordswordswordswords
wordswordswords
wordswordswords
wordswordswords
wordswordswords
Estructura Lenguaje
estilo
If the constraints are what the engineer or scientist does not control in the
writing process, then style is what the engineer or scientist does control. Style
comprises three perspectives: structure, language, and illustration (all three are
defined in Chapter 1). Students should note that unlike most terms in
engineering and science, most terms in writing do not have universal
definitions. For that reason, you and your students should agree upon a few
definitions so that your discussions about writing make sense. So often, I have
seen discussions about writing become unproductive because people invoke
terms that others either do not understand or have different definitions for.
Terms often used in discussions of writing, but not often understood by
students, are format, style, structure, language, illustration, tone, active voice,
passive voice, and the major parts of speech. These are defined in the
textbook’s glossary.
The next three sets of presentations discuss these aspects of style in scientific
writing.
24

25. Se le puede pedir que escriba
muchos tipos de documentos
Memos Web pages Posters
Emails Artículos Especificaciones
Cartas Reportes Standards
de Avance
Propuestas Instrucciones
Reportes
If the constraints are what the engineer or scientist does not control in the
writing process, then style is what the engineer or scientist does control. Style
comprises three perspectives: structure, language, and illustration (all three are
defined in Chapter 1). Students should note that unlike most terms in
engineering and science, most terms in writing do not have universal
definitions. For that reason, you and your students should agree upon a few
definitions so that your discussions about writing make sense. So often, I have
seen discussions about writing become unproductive because people invoke
terms that others either do not understand or have different definitions for.
Terms often used in discussions of writing, but not often understood by
students, are format, style, structure, language, illustration, tone, active voice,
passive voice, and the major parts of speech. These are defined in the
textbook’s glossary.
The next three sets of presentations discuss these aspects of style in scientific
writing.
25