Contemporary Physics

ISSN: 0010-7514 (Print) 1366-5812 (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/tcph20

A concise guide to communication in science &

engineering, by D. H. Foster
Scope: review, guide. Level: undergraduate, postgraduate, early career
researcher, researcher

Miriam R. Aczel

To cite this article: Miriam R. Aczel (2018) A concise guide to communication in

science & engineering, by D. H. Foster, Contemporary Physics, 59:2, 216-217, DOI:
10.1080/00107514.2018.1448450

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2018.1448450

Published online: 19 Mar 2018.

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216 BOOK REVIEWS
The diagrams are greyscale, which is expected in this series
and all are well chosen and executed. In addition the index is
useful, if the abbreviations come too thick and fast, as it will
help keep the WASP (Wide Angle exoPlanet Survey) from
getting mixed up with the OWL (OverWhelmingly Large
telescope) and MERLIN (Multi Element Remote Linked
INteferometer) with ALMA (Atacama Large Millimetre
Array).
By blending the technological development with technical
explanations and the human stories, Cottrell has made an
extremely readable account. This is an excellent introduction
for the general reader. If you were not interested in telescopes
and astronomy before you read this, you will be afterwards.
Stephen H. Ashworth
University of East Anglia, Norwich
S.Ashworth@uea.ac.uk
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4213-3541
© 2018 Stephen H. Ashworth
https://doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2018.1448449
A concise guide to communication in science
& engineering, by D. H. Foster, Oxford, Oxford
University Press, 2017, 408 pp., £19.99 (paperback),
ISBN 9780198704249. Scope: review, guide. Level:
undergraduate, postgraduate, early career researcher,
researcher.
In today’s world, where the lines between politics and science
are arguably increasingly blurred, and scientific research is
prone to scrutiny and refutation, communication is more
important than ever. David H. Foster’s Concise Guide to
Communication in Science & Engineering provides helpful
advice to scientists and engineers in both oral and written
communication of their research in a single, concise volume.
Importantly, Foster’s work clearly demonstrates the very con-
cepts and advice he is trying to impart – at the end of every
chapter, he includes a ‘checklist’ summarising the lessons of
the chapter – an excellent guide for scientists and engineers
who hope to improve their research communication skills.
Foster’s indispensable guide begins with a series of com-
monly accepted ‘general principles’ for science writing. For
example, he explains the need for logical organisation in writ-
ten research, and how this can be bolstered using headings
and section divisions. He cautions, however, that despite the
importance of headings in structural organisation, readers
often skip over them, and advises, therefore, that the body
of text should make sense without them. In his easy-to-read
style, Foster discusses common mistakes, such as ‘late defi-
nitions’ of technical terms or concepts, which can frustrate
the reader.
A key theme in Foster’s work is the ‘importance of the
tradeoff between the effort invested by the writer and that
by the reader’ – meaning, that through investing more time
in ensuring clear and careful wording in scientific papers,
the reader can be spared both extra time and confusion (p.
5). Other crucial principles include explaining difficult ideas
twice; ‘progressive refinement’ and making sure to rework
the text to ensure logical editing; and avoiding superfluous
words or cluttered text.
The book goes through the specific elements of research
articles, and details the functions of each component. For
example, he explains that the title is the ‘most important
part’ of attracting the reader’s attention, and should both
distinguish the paper from other literature and be as concise
as possible (p. 37). Foster provides comprehensive guidance
for references, appendices and supplementary materials and
acknowledgements. He also differentiates between research
articles and other types of reporting, including literature
reviews, dissertations and theses, and technical reports, and
provides specific advice and checklists for each type of report.
One of the most important sections of the volume is the
chapter on use of English. Foster guides the reader through
several common issues and conventions, such as the use of
personal pronouns and ‘the fundamental question’ of whether
to have a ‘visible presence’ in the text, as well as how to avoid
‘sexist language’ (p. 121). Other issues Foster discusses – and
offers solutions to – are choice of verb and subject, avoiding
awkward passive sentence construction; uncertainties over
word choice; and punctuation.
Foster similarly elaborates upon key presentational issues
specific to the use of mathematics, and shows through exam-
ples how ‘surprisingly easy’ it is confuse the reader (p. 191).
Foster next turns to description of data and statistical infer-
ence, explaining that because research articles rarely report
raw numerical data, it is important to focus on the best
manner to represent data and correctly draw inferences. He
outlines the most common approaches to data description
and statistical analysis, and describes basic statistical tools
to help with successful data reporting.
Foster then takes the reader through approaches to pub-
lication, with suggestions on how to choose the appropri-
ate journal or conference, as well as explanations of journal
impact factors and ranks. He also provides valuable guidance
on the submission process, including targeted advice on how
to increase the potential impact of a paper before submis-
sion, as well as practical explanations of the review process,
including examples of the types of reviewer feedback and
guidance on revision and addressing reviewer feedback. He
concludes the section with advice on promotion of the arti-
cle, as well as measurement of personal impact and success.
Foster’s subsequent chapter deals with poster presentations,
including advice on ‘accepting suggestions for further work
with thanks’ and omitting unnecessary details unless visitors
to the poster ask (p. 296).
Foster also discusses oral presentations, such as lectures
and talks, explaining their relative advantages for research
dissemination, as he argues that one can make a more com-
pelling case than with written research. However, he explains
that the disadvantage to oral communication is there is only
one chance for the audience to understand what is being said

– they cannot adjust the pace of a talk to suit their needs – as
opposed to written research, where the reader can go back
and reread the material. Foster’s final chapter deals with eth-
ical issues, such as potential types of research misconduct
such as plagiarism, including ‘self-plagiarising’; citation and
referencing guidance; as well as research ethics approval for
research with humans or animals.
Foster’s book does exactly what the title says – it provides
a concise guide to all types of communication of research in
science and engineering. The author sheds light on common
issues and potential areas of confusion, offering practical
advice followed by an easy-to-use checklist for each poten-
tial issue. With 400 references and over 700 research works
as well as a comprehensive index, Foster’s volume succeeds
in guiding the reader through the key elements and steps to
ensure effective communication.
Miriam R. Aczel
Imperial College London, Centre for Environmental Policy,
London, UK
ma714@ic.ac.uk
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9819-7512
© 2018 Miriam R. Aczel
https://doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2018.1448450
The simple physics of energy use, by P. Rez, Oxford,
Oxford University Press, 2017, 304 pp., £32.50
(paperback), ISBN 9780198802303. Scope: textbook.
Level: non-specialists, undergraduate, postgraduate,
teacher.
Energy is essential to how we live – we use it to light as well
as heat and cool our buildings; move people and objects from
one place to another; and to create things. The Simple Physics
of Energy Use by Peter Rez uses classical physics (mechanics,
electromagnetism and thermodynamics) to survey and eval-
uate our energy sources. His book is suitable for non-spe-
cialists or students, as it assumes no previous knowledge of
the subject, and provides context and real-life applications
for key concepts in classical physics.
Rez takes a practical, physics-based approach to answer-
ing some of the most challenging questions about energy
use and what we should be doing to increase sustainability,
and provides a thorough quantitative analysis of the most
important energy policy challenges we face. The work is
divided into three main sections, corresponding to the three
main functions energy is used for: Controlling the Indoor
Environment; Moving People and Things Around; and Making
Stuff.
In the first section, Rez takes the reader through the phys-
ics of how heat flows through buildings, using concepts such
as thermal conductivity to explain heat conduction in both
large and small structures. He explains both the efficiency of
CONTEMPORARY PHYSICS  217
heat pumps and air conditioners, and importantly also how
these ubiquitous technologies work. The author next deals
with electrical power generation from fossil fuels, explaining
that electricity is ‘very convenient for transmitting energy
from one place to another’ but that there are significant inef-
ficiencies in the generation of electrical energy (p. 42). The
subsequent chapter is devoted to nuclear energy, explaining
nuclear reactions and comparing nuclear energy sources with
fossil fuels. Rez explains that nuclear power’s advantage is
‘the possibility to produce a lot of energy from very little
material and with no ongoing CO2 production’, yet how to
manage nuclear waste is the key disadvantage (p. 72). Rez
contends that although nuclear fusion progress has been
slow, the potential for nearly ‘unlimited’ energy makes con-
tinued research crucial. The final chapters in the section on
Controlling the Indoor Environment deal with electrical power
distribution and issues with loss of energy in transmission, as
well as electrical power generation from renewable sources
of solar and wind, as well as hydroelectricity, tidal energy
and pumped storage.
The second section, on transportation, examines the phys-
ics of ‘rolling’ cars and bicycles, including forces of friction
and torque, in addition to combustion engines based on the
Otto cycle and diesel cycle. Rez discusses measures of effi-
ciency including fuel use and travel time, and also provides
an overview of hybrid and electric vehicles as well as freight
trucks and trains.
Rez next considers air transportation, providing an
overview of aerodynamic drag and aeroplane technologies
including propellers, turbojets and turbofans. Rez compares
aeroplane efficiency with ground transportation, discussing
Tesla motor vehicles inventor Elon Musk’s hyperloop – a
transportation system consisting of narrow tunnels through
which linear induction motors propel capsules. ‘Faster than
the high-speed train, but with a lot less passenger comfort’,
the hyperloop demonstrates that energy use can be mini-
mised by reducing the cross-sectional area of the transport
vehicle to reduce drag (p. 173). The final section looks at
ships as ground transportation, focusing on hydrodynamic
drag as the equivalent of aerodynamic drag for moving an
object through water.
The third section discusses making stuff, outlining the
different materials that are extracted from the earth: iron
and steel, aluminium, glass, cement and concrete, in addi-
tion to plastics and uranium. Rez also discusses the other
main source of materials, trees and plants, and concludes
that using crops to for energy – either processing into liquid
fuels or for electrical power generation – is ‘horribly ineffi-
cient in the power derived per unit area’, because ‘plants do
not grow fast enough!’ (p. 214). The final chapters look at
embodied energy and energy return on energy invested in
various sources of power: coal-fired power stations; natural
gas turbines; nuclear power; solar photovoltaics; wind tur-
bines; and hydroelectric generation.
Rez’s work concludes with a final section that asks the
crucial question of What should be done?, and explains
that from what the physics in the book has shown, as ‘total