Monthly Archives: April 2008

chemistry

If It’s Natural, It Can’t Be Chemical…

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Right?

I just got through writing an article about the biochemical origins of life for a research institute. It’s a summary of a symposium I attended in March and features comments from chemists, astronomers, planetary science folk, and geologists. One of the scientists I interviewed is a biochemistry researcher. We had a few rounds of email about her work and then got to “chit-chatting” about non article-related stuff. She regaled me with the tale of doing some shopping a while back and she noticed a window ad for mineral cosmetics. The ad said something like “Our new powder makeup contains no chemicals, only pure minerals.”

Who here doesn’t see the faulty thinking in that ad copy?***

Here’s a chance to do a little critical thinking and apply it to ad copy–something we should all do, particularly when it comes to claims of “scientific formulas” that are guaranteed to do this or that to make you look younger, have more hair, lose weight “overnight” and so forth.

***If you figured it out immediately that minerals ARE chemicals, give yourself a pat on the back and indulge in a few moments of unalloyed smugness.

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Science as an Exhibit

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And over Here… z =50

I’m working on an exhibit project for another science museum. I get to write labels and captions and descriptions that go along with visual depictions and videos and samples of the subject matter I’m writing about.

The first one I did was for Griffith, and then I did another for a children’s museum near where I live. This one’s pretty large, and the institution is well-respected and has a lot of good people working there.  So, I flew in to visit with them, and spent yesterday talking with the exhibit designer and a museum curator and another writer about the subject, hopefully nailing down more details so that I can do what needs to be done. It will be a lot of work, and challenging, but that’s life.

Back when I did my first science exhibits, I thought a lot about museums and their purposes. Yeah, we all go to them on field trips in school, and as family outings on holidays, and we all know they’re supposed to be educational and uplifting.  But now that I write exhibits, I am quite a bit more clued into nuances like style, level of writing, the "tone" of the writing, and the grade level that the writers want to reach. And, it’s made me more aware of how important it is to engage people in what the exhibits are talking about. This means NOT talking down or TO people, but WITH them. It’s not easy.

I’ve seen some really good writing at science museums and centers and some writing that left me scratching my head. It’s tough to put science on exhibit.  There are a lot of concepts that you just have to experience for yourself, and reading about them on a 50-word panel is a challenge. But, some things can be taught in the science center environment through exhibits, especially if they’re written well. Then, they spark peoples’ imaginations. At least, that’s MY aim when I write exhibit copy.

But, I have also seen some very murky writing at science centers here and there, and when I stand in front of such panels and look at writing that makes me go "Huh?" I wonder what the writer had in mind. And, I also question what the scientist/curator/marketing department/education department folks who stood behind the writer and directed the writing were thinking.

One thing for sure, when I think about how I want to write MY captions and labels, I use both the good and bad examples as object lessons. Ironically enough, that’s as much a part of the scientific method as it is a life lesson!