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Published by
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57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE
Head office: 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224
USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Glasman-Deal, Hilary, author.
Title: Science research writing : for native and non-native speakers of English /
Hilary Glasman-Deal, Imperial College London, UK.
Description: Second edition. | New Jersey : World Scientific, [2020] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019052120 | ISBN 9781786347831 (hardcover) |
ISBN 9781786347848 (paperback) | ISBN 9781786348333 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781786348340 (ebook other)
Subjects: LCSH: English language--Technical English--Handbooks, manuals, etc. |
Technical writing--Handbooks, manuals, etc. | English language--Textbooks for foreign speakers.
Classification: LCC PE1475 .G57 2020 | DDC 808.06/65--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019052120
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“9x6” b3779 Science Research Writing
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all my brilliant colleagues in

the Centre for Academic English at Imperial College London, particularly
Robin Mowat, Julie King and Julie Hartill, and to the many students and
academic staff at Imperial College London who have provided research articles
and input for this book.
I would also like to thank my dear children Ben, Daniel, Liora, Yoel, Jordana
and Alex for their enthusiasm, encouragement and patience, and my editor
at World Scientific Publishing, Koe Shi Ying, for her unflagging diligence and
professionalism.
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Preface to the Second Edition

Student: Dr Einstein, aren’t these the same questions as in last year’s exam?
Dr Einstein: Yes, but this year the answers are different.
Science research writing is changing and developing, influenced by factors

that are driving the way that science is communicated and the way that
research is accessed. These factors include the global nature of science
research, internet reading and the accelerating speed of scientific discovery,
all of which are revolutionising the communication models that existed in
the twentieth century.
The global nature of science research requires fast, effective and accurate
communication that can be understood by all participants in international
interactions and research collaborations. The language of science is not
owned by English speakers but by its many users worldwide. Researchers
who are not native English speakers frequently lead their field. These
researchers report their work in high-impact journals and need to write and
read research in their discipline fast and effectively. This is creating a global
science communication language that codifies research such that it can be
accessed by all users, in all countries, and at all levels.
Internet reading is another factor changing the way research is accessed,
and this in turn is influencing how it is written. The collaborative nature of
STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine) and
increases in research funding have increased the volume of research
published annually and therefore the amount of reading required for
successful STEMM research. In the past, researchers would read hard copies
of a limited, carefully-curated set of print journals. Now, however, most
achieve a faster and more fluid access to a wider range of research on the
internet via information-surfing. Research activity involves extensive title-
scrolling to search for relevant studies, and readers may only read one section
of the research article — perhaps the Abstract, Results or Conclusion. As a
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“9x6”
b3779 Science Research Writing
Science Research Writing
result, titles have become more important, and parts of the research article,
particularly the Abstract or Summary, are developing in ways that enable
them to be read as independent, standalone documents.
A third factor driving the change in science research communication is

the need for speed. Science is moving forward almost faster than it can be
reported, and STEMM research requires writers to communicate highly
complex information as quickly as possible. In some cases this is to avoid
being ‘leapfrogged’ by other researchers; in others it is because links with
industry, patents and spin-off companies demand fast publication. If a paper
takes too long to write, there is a risk that it will be partially or completely
out of date — and therefore unpublishable — by the time it is submitted.
Scientists and journal editors therefore need to communicate the impact of
a study as quickly and simply as possible, and this, too, is shaping STEMM
research writing.
There are also changes in the nature of research itself: science is
becoming more specialised in some cases, and more interdisciplinary in
others. This creates a complex communication structure in which highly
specialised information sometimes needs to be accessed by non-specialists.
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All of these changes are having a profound effect on research writing,

with impacts on both the structure and the content of the traditional research
article. The form of the research article is in transition, changing to satisfy
the fast-moving needs of the research community. The function and content
of the Abstract is changing, the location of the Methods section is shifting,
the IMRD (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) structure is loosening,
and markers of significance such as Research in Context panels, one-page
summaries and lists of Highlights are sometimes included, particularly in the
online version of the research article. To participate successfully in the current
research environment, researchers need to be aware of — and respond to —
these changes and developments in science research writing. They also need
to be prepared for those that are coming. This has resulted in two key changes
in the Second Edition of this book.
Changes in This Second Edition
The first change reflects the fact that science communication platforms are
in transition. In the First Edition, research articles in high-impact journals
across a wide range of disciplines were analysed to generate what was then
a set of fairly stable writing models for each section of the research article.
Those writing models have been significantly updated in this Second Edition
to reflect current patterns and trends in research writing, but they can
no longer be seen as stable representations. Researchers now need to
develop the ability to update their writing models alongside the next
round of changes and developments in science communication. Given the
fast-moving nature of the changes outlined above, the Second Edition aims
to develop writing strategies that are future-proof and which represent a
lifelong tool, irrespective of upcoming changes and developments in science
communication.
The Second Edition develops these strategies by encouraging writers
to use a reverse-engineering approach to writing. Most reading involves
passively approaching a text as a source of information. By contrast, reverse
engineering a text requires an active reading strategy that involves learning
to step back from the information itself and become aware of how that
information is delivered. Once developed, reverse engineering can be used
by STEMM research writers as a starting point to generate all text types in
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science research communication now and in the future, including grant

proposals, conference abstracts, Letters, technical reports and review
articles.
The approach is similar to that of Painting by Numbers, whose marketing
slogan was A beautiful oil painting the first time you try. Using a Painting by
Numbers kit may not turn you into Leonardo da Vinci, but it delivers a strategy
for producing recognisably similar paintings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa
In the same way, analysing the organisational scaffold, writing patterns

and language in a set of well-written research articles will deliver a strategy
for producing a credible, well-organised and readable research article that
conforms to the current conventions of comparable articles.
The second major change in the Second Edition is the title, and therefore
the readership, of the book. The First Edition was directed towards non-native
speakers of English. However, my experience of working with native speaker
researchers since then clearly demonstrates that although there are some
language issues that are specific to non-native speakers, the writing issues
are common to all STEMM research writers. The aim of all researchers is to
create successful and effective text out of data and information. Given the
complexity of most STEMM research projects, this requires a high level of
communicative competence. However, ‘academic English is no-one’s first
language’1, and native speaker researchers, even those at the highest level,
experience most of the same challenges as non-native speakers when writing
about their research. Experience has shown me that correct English grammar
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does not guarantee a successful text, and that the reverse is also true: a text
may be well-written and therefore communicate successfully and accurately
despite some language errors. I have therefore shifted the focus of the book
to language and writing issues that are common to both native and non-native
STEMM researchers, and particularly to those issues which have an impact
on meaning and readability.
Since the First Edition was published in 2009, Science Research Writing
has been translated into Chinese, Japanese and Korean, and is used around
the world at universities and research institutes, by instructors teaching
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Specific Academic
Purposes (ESAP) to STEMM researchers and students, as well as by STEMM
researchers who are native speakers of English. These users of the book have
contributed to many of the changes in the Second Edition, including the
addition of a Checklist and Tips chapter that summarises the writing issues
dealt with in other Units.
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Introduction
Writing for a reader: wrapping information in a narrative
Science research writing is not simply about presenting information, or even

about presenting information clearly. In the first place, information itself is
neutral — it has no intrinsic function. If the writer does not explicitly identify
and communicate the function of the information and how it relates to the
rest of the text, the reader cannot understand why it is there. This interrupts
the flow of the article and therefore its readability. Secondly, science research
writing is about developing or changing the reader’s knowledge; this requires
a strong narrative wrapped around the information that leads logically and
patiently to the conclusions that the writer wishes to draw.
The writer’s familiarity with the scientific content of the research makes
it hard for that writer to see why a narrative is necessary. Prior to writing up,
the writer may have been working closely for months with colleagues who
share both general and specific knowledge of the topic and the study.
Communication within this group is very implicit, since those colleagues all
know why, how and what is being done. When the writer is ready to report
the study to outsiders, that implicit understanding can no longer be taken
for granted and a conscious effort must be made to consider how much can
be assumed about the reader’s knowledge and to supplement that knowledge
wherever necessary. This is particularly true given the increasingly
multidisciplinary nature of science research. The range of researchers and
stakeholders wanting access to science research is unpredictable, and it is
growing.
A written text is therefore not an information repository, nor is it a
naturally-occurring flow of words and sentences; it is an artefact created for
a reader. The aim is not simply to make it possible for the reader to
understand; the narrative should be strong enough to make it impossible
for the reader NOT to understand.
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What does a narrative wrap look like?

To communicate research, the science has to become language. A narrative
wrap is the communication scaffold that surrounds the information and makes
it intelligible to the reader. Decisions about titles, subheadings, paragraph
function and the order of graphics form part of the narrative wrap and create
a meaningful framework for the information. Within the text itself, narrative
is achieved by the writer commenting on and identifying the function of the
information, as well as by less obvious means such as paragraph-entry
sentences and choice of verb tense. Tools and guidance for the narrative
wrap are discussed throughout the book. The narrative wrap turns science
information/data into readable, effective text.
IDENTIFYING GENRE
AND READERSHIP CHOOSING THE NUMBER,
DIVIDING INTO ORDER AND POSITION
SUBSECTIONS OF GRAPHICS
PLANNING THE FUNCTION AND

PLANNING THE FUNCTION
ORDER OF SENTENCES WITHIN
AND ORDER OF
PARAGRAPHS
PARAGRAPHS
PLANNING: THE UNDERLYING NARRATIVE SCAFFOLD

SCIENCE INFORMATION/DATA
WRITING: THE ACTIVE NARRATIVE WRAP
COMMENTING ON
INFORMATION/DATA IDENTIFYING THE FUNCTION OF
FOR THE READER INFORMATION/DATA FOR
THE READER
MAKING GRAMMAR
CHOICES THAT MAKING VOCABULARY CHOICES
COMMUNICATE THAT HELP THE READER
THE FUNCTION OF
THE INFORMATION CREATING TITLES STARTING PARAGRAPHS
AND SUBTITLES AND SENTENCES IN
THAT HELP WAYS THAT SUPPORT
THE READER THE READER
Planning: The Underlying Narrative Scaffold
IDENTIFYING GENRE AND READERSHIP What am I constructing? A research

article, a review article, a grant proposal, a Letter, a poster and a conference
abstract are different genres, and each requires a different structure and a
different approach to content. Adopting a cut-and-paste approach as you
move between different genres results in a shapeless, unfocused text. Before
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Introduction
you begin planning your text, reverse engineer a current example of the
relevant genre as a model.
Who might read this? Where do I pitch the information level of my text?
What can I assume that all potential readers know? How quickly can I move
into scientific detail? Is the readership of this text likely to become more
interdisciplinary in the future?
DIVIDING INTO SUBSECTIONS Are there standard subsections for this type
of text in this field? How many subsections are normal in my target articles?
What is the average length of these subsections? Does my work fit neatly
and logically into these subsections? If not, is the way I have divided my text
into subsections more appropriate?
CHOOSING THE NUMBER, ORDER AND POSITION OF GRAPHICS (i.e. figures,
tables, images) Do I have a good reason for including each graphic? What is
the most logical order of my graphics? Where is each one most useful to the
reader? Position each graphic within the surrounding text so that it doesn’t
interrupt the narrative flow of the text but rather comes at a natural point within
the narrative, i.e. exactly when the reader becomes aware of wanting to see it.
PLANNING THE FUNCTION AND ORDER OF PARAGRAPHS Do all my paragraphs
have an identifiable function? Is that function clear to the reader? Is the order
of paragraphs logical?
PLANNING THE FUNCTION AND ORDER OF SENTENCES WITHIN PARAGRAPHS
Do all my sentences have an identifiable function? Is that function clear to
the reader, or will they wonder why I have included it here? Does each
sentence fit with the overall function of the paragraph? Does each sentence
follow logically from the next?
Writing: The Active Narrative Wrap
COMMENTING ON INFORMATION/DATA FOR THE READER Have I (perhaps

incorrectly) assumed that what I think about the information/data is obvious
to all potential readers?
IDENTIFYING THE FUNCTION OF INFORMATION/DATA FOR THE READER
Have I (perhaps incorrectly) assumed that the function of the information/
data is obvious to all potential readers?
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“9x6”
MAKING GRAMMAR CHOICES THAT COMMUNICATE THE FUNCTION OF THE

INFORMATION Have I thought about the meaning and impact of the verb tense
I am using in each sentence? Have I made grammar choices that resolve (or
create) potential ambiguity?
MAKING VOCABULARY CHOICES THAT HELP THE READER Have I considered
the needs of the global reader? Am I using vocabulary consistently?
STARTING PARAGRAPHS AND SENTENCES IN WAYS THAT SUPPORT THE
READER Does the start of each paragraph help the reader see where I am
going in that paragraph? Have I closed the gaps between sentences and
started them in a reader-friendly way?
CREATING TITLES AND SUBTITLES THAT HELP THE READER Does my title
represent and predict the content or is it just the original ‘working’ title that I
haven’t really thought about since I began the project? Is my title a normal
length for this type of article? Do my subsection titles work for the entire
subsection? Do my subtitles help the reader enter the subsection? Does
everything in this subsection ‘fit’ the subtitle? Are my subtitles a normal length
for this type of article? Are subtitles normally grammatical sentences in my
target articles? Are they supposed to summarise the content of the subsection?
What strategy is used in this book?

A classic approach to writing is the genre-based approach, which deals with
the structure and content of different types of texts. Genre-based instruction
is widely used to teach writing. However, although this approach is good at
telling writers what they need to do, it is less effective when it comes to
telling them how to do it. For example:
WRITING THE DISCUSSION SECTION:

Highlight the most significant results, but don’t just repeat what you’ve
written in the Results section. HOW DO I DO THAT? Show how these
results relate to the original question. HOW? Discuss whether or not
your results are consistent with what other investigators have reported.
TELL ME HOW! Look at alternative ways to interpret your results. HOW
DO I DO THAT? Discuss how your results fit into the big picture. HOW
EXACTLY DO I ‘DISCUSS’ THAT?
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Introduction
To answer questions of this type, users of this book are shown how to develop
a reverse-engineering approach. They are guided towards deconstructing
successful current research writing in their own field to create models for
their own writing. I have used this reverse-engineering approach at Imperial
College London and other universities around the world, analysing thousands
of recently-published research articles in a range of STEMM disciplines to
construct and validate the basic models, the grammar, and the language lists
in the book. The Centre for Academic English at Imperial College London uses
the approach to teach STEMM writing to early-stage researchers, as well as
training more experienced research writers to develop and apply it. A key
advantage of the reverse-engineering approach is that it responds well to
the fast-changing nature of research writing: once the strategy becomes
familiar, writers can adjust and update their models alongside the next round
of changes in science writing and publication platforms.
The aim of this book is to provide a quick, do-it-yourself guide for writing
science research for publication. The reverse-engineering approach can be
understood quickly, used independently, and tailored to the needs of all
STEMM research disciplines and all STEMM texts, including grant proposals,
conference abstracts and industry reports. The approach is descriptive rather
than prescriptive. Instead of offering advice or telling writers what to do and
what not to do, the aim is to begin by generating a highly accurate description
of the type of writing each individual writer wants to produce. Accurate
descriptions alone, however, do not generate written text — describing
something is not the same as being able to do it, so in addition to a description
of what to do, the key contribution of this approach is that it then helps the
writer to discover how to do it, and to apply that knowledge.
The strategy is as follows:

1. Build a sentence-based/paragraph-based model identifying the
functions of a successful text, for example: This sentence identifies a
gap in the research or This paragraph maps the contribution of this
study onto the literature.
2. Mine successful texts for vocabulary to communicate these functions,
for example, the words and phrases that identify a gap in the research.
3. Identify and master the relevant grammar, language and writing skills
that achieve these functions, for example, verb tense choices.
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“9x6”
4. Continually reinforce, adjust, update and develop 1–3 above via

reading in the field.
The last step in the process: Continually reinforce, adjust and develop
1–3 above via reading in the field is essential. Science research writing
is not a static genre; it is in transition, and successful writers need to be
willing and able to upgrade as the genre develops. The key to success is
to refer to a set of target research articles (or review articles, conference
abstracts etc.), update that set constantly and update the models
accordingly.
The models, grammar/language and vocabulary presented in each
chapter are the result of analysing over 2,500 recently-published research
articles in a range of STEMM disciplines in order to generate a toolkit that is
reliable and has high face validity.
Key messages:
· THE CONTENT OF SCIENCE RESEARCH SHOULD BE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL
READERS.
· THE READER NEEDS TO BE SHOWN THE FUNCTION OF DATA OR
INFORMATION, NOT JUST PRESENTED WITH IT.
· THE AIM IS NOT SIMPLY TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR THE READER TO
UNDERSTAND; THE AIM IS TO MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE READER
NOT TO UNDERSTAND.
· EVIDENCE-BASED GUIDANCE CAN BE OBTAINED BY STUDYING THE
STRUCTURE AND LANGUAGE OF SUCCESSFULLY-PUBLISHED PAPERS.
Who is this book for?

The book is designed to enable science researchers, both native and
non-native speakers of English, to write more effective research papers for
publication. The reverse-engineering strategy described in the book can also
be adapted to produce other research-related STEMM writing such as reports,
conference abstracts and review papers. In addition, since a research paper
is a microcosm of a thesis, it can also be used to write a PhD thesis. In fact,
many institutions permit PhD candidates to organise and submit the thesis
as a series of linked published papers, since this solves the problem of writing
the thesis and the relevant papers at the same time.
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Introduction
Why might I need it?

Science does not exist until it is published2. Good writing enhances the chance
of publication, and publication is a key goal of research; when you share your
work via publication you become part of the global science community. In
addition, high-quality publications attract funding and lead to participation
in high-level projects. Writing and publishing a research paper is also the best
way to develop your career. If you turn your thesis or project into a useful
paper, your CV will look more professional, and will be more competitive
internationally.
Good scientists, however, are not always good writers. Some find it
difficult to organise information optimally, or to represent their research
concisely and effectively. Others find writing burdensome and may feel
discouraged by the prospect of writing. This slows the writing process down —
sometimes to a total stop. In the current global context, research needs to
be published quickly. This book is designed to speed up this ‘lab-to-journal’
process by providing the information, vocabulary and skills you need so that
you can write quickly, confidently and independently.
As a science researcher, you read and understand highly complex material
in your field with little effort. However, you may find it harder to produce
well-written texts at that level, or you may feel that your writing does not
represent the content or impact of your work effectively. In this book you
will learn to use your existing reading ability and the material you read to
develop the relevant writing skills. You don’t need to learn much more than
you already know; you just need to make that knowledge active, rather than
passive. Science writing is easier than it looks.
Why not simply use proof-readers, or (in the case of non-native researchers)
translation software?
Turning to proof-readers or translators for help resolves some language
errors, but may not resolve writing issues. They may not notice some errors,
because a sentence which is grammatically correct will still be wrong if it
does not mean what the writer intended. The wrong verb tense, for
example, may make a finding (X occurred) look like a known and accepted
truth (X occurs). In addition, a proof-reader or translator may not check
whether your writing fits conventional patterns in your field. For example,
you may have forgotten to justify your choice of method or explain how
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“9x6”
your results relate to your original question. A proof-reader or translator

is unlikely to notice this, but it could mean that the peer reviewer or journal
editor rejects your paper as unprofessional. Another example is that if
your conclusions are translated in language that is more forceful or positive
than you intended, your paper may fail at the review stage because the
reviewer cannot find adequate justification in your results for the
conclusions thus stated.
There is an additional difficulty associated with using translators or
translation software. English academic writing follows certain cultural norms;
these are evident in the choice of vocabulary and even in the way information
is organised into paragraphs. If the cultural writing norms of the writer are
very different from those of the reader, the translated text will look odd, and
key aspects of research paper writing, such as explicitly identifying the value
of the study, may be so understated as to be unrecognisable. Another fast-
emerging issue is that ownership of confidential material is harder to control
once the material has passed through internet-accessible translation software
or editing tools.
Will the book help me to become the ‘first author’ of my paper?

The first author is more visible in the literature than co-authors, and is more
closely linked with the research (e.g. Wu et al., 2019). The rules and
conventions for the order of multiple authors vary across different research
disciplines, but if you depend on colleagues to do much of the writing for
you, this may affect your status as first author, so a central aim of this book
is to improve your ability to write independently.
Does the book focus on vocabulary and grammar?

Science is international. This has an impact on the language of science
publication, and drives both native-speaker writers as well as non-native
writers to communicate their research in language that is clear and
accessible to readers around the world. Whatever your first language, most
of the people who read your paper will not be native speakers of English.
Science research writing therefore uses a fairly restricted range of language
to express and negotiate meaning. This is good news for non-native speakers!
It means that they do not have to master the whole of English; to write
successful, clear papers it is only necessary to master a relatively small
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Introduction
subset of English vocabulary. The language used to negotiate meaning in a

research paper consists of a limited set of commonly-used words and
phrases. The non-technical vocabulary used in scientific writing also consists
of a limited set of words and phrases. These are used as a kind of code that
makes it possible to communicate accurately with researchers around the
world.
The issue around grammar is more complex. As noted above, correct
grammar does not ensure accurate or effective communication; equally, a
text may be well-written and therefore communicate successfully and
accurately despite some grammar errors. Rather than focusing on grammar
rules, the book directs all writers towards using grammar, for example verb
tense, in ways that communicate the intended meaning clearly and
unambiguously.
I have taught English for Academic Purposes to STEMM students for over
30 years. For the past 25 years I have been teaching PhD and post-doctoral
research writing in the Centre for Academic English at Imperial College
London, where I also consult with individual PhD students, postdocs and
academic staff — native speakers as well as non-native speakers — who are
writing a thesis, research paper, or textbook. I also deliver workshops to
research groups around the world. This book is based on the two most useful
things I have learned:
1. Science writing does not need to be stylish or elegant; its primary aim
is to communicate clearly and accurately. Using elegant English may
actually make your research article less accessible, or even less accurate.
For example, using a thesaurus to avoid repetition is counter-productive;
a framework should not suddenly become a methodology, an approach
or a model without warning. Repeating the same word creates an echo
which enables the reader to recognise and track concepts through the
paper, and ensures that the concepts themselves remain stable and
consistent.
2. Good organisation and good writing can compensate for language
errors, but error-free language does not compensate for poor
organisation or poor writing. A text in perfectly grammatical English will
be ineffective and even unintelligible if the information is jumbled or
presented incoherently.
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How does the book work?

The book takes the research article as a typical example of a STEMM text.
Reports, dissertations and theses are constructed in a similar way, but the
research paper is of a more manageable size for analysis.
The Units in the book are ordered according to IMRaD (Introduction,
Methods, Results, Discussion) for the sake of simplicity. Although IMRaD is
no longer the only available model for research writing, most research articles
do contain an Introduction, a description of what was done/used, the
outcome of what was done/used and a discussion of that outcome. However,
IMRaD is not normally the order in which the writer produces the research
paper, nor is it always the order in which it appears in a journal, or the order
in which the paper is likely to be read. Writers often produce the Methods
section first, then the Results, then the Discussion/Conclusion, then the
Introduction, and finally the Abstract and Title. In addition, some journals
present the Methods or Experimental section at the end of the paper or as
supplementary material. Readers, too, rarely read in IMRaD order. They may
begin with the Title/Abstract, but then jump straight to the Results section
or the Methods, depending on their interests. Nevertheless, in this book the
sections of a research paper are presented in the IMRaD format for ease of
reference, and to demonstrate the order of information as it generally appears
in print.
The book is divided into eight units. Unit 1 deals with the Introduction,
Unit 2 the Methods, Unit 3 the Results, Unit 4 the Discussion, Unit 5 extends
the reverse-engineering method used in previous Units to the Conclusion
section, Unit 6 deals with the Abstract, Unit 7 the Title and Unit 8 contains
a checklist and writing tips.
The structure of the first two units is similar. For example, Unit 1 begins
by building a basic generic model of an Introduction. Extracts from recently-
published Introductions are included to demonstrate how the model operates
in the real world. This is followed by a list of useful vocabulary taken from
over 2,500 recently-published research articles in different disciplines,
together with examples of sentence patterns that show how the words and
phrases are used in the Introduction. At the end of the Unit there is a Language
and Writing Skills section designed to respond to frequently-asked questions.
There are not many grammar exercises in the Language and Writing Skills
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Introduction
sections at the end of each Unit; this book is intended to be a fast and easily-
accessible guide rather than a language textbook. Where grammar issues
are discussed, the aim is not to identify rules for ‘correct’ grammar, but rather
to avoid ambiguity.
At this stage in Unit 1, you will have a robust generic model of an
Introduction, a list of useful words, phrases and sentence patterns for each
part of the Introduction model, and a language/writing skills guide that
responds to FAQs about grammar and writing skills in the Introduction. If you
do the tasks in the unit, you will be able to put the model, vocabulary and
language/writing skills together to write an Introduction. At the end of Unit 1
you write a simple Introduction using what you have learned and compare
it with a sample answer in the Key. This pattern is repeated in Unit 2.
In Units 3, 4, 5 and 6 you are encouraged to reverse engineer your own
target research articles to create the models, and then check and adjust them
against the generic, universal models presented in each Unit. The tasks
throughout the book are designed to help you develop reverse engineering
to the point where it becomes an automatic adjunct to your reading strategies.
If you read the book without completing the exercises and tasks, you will
have an intellectual understanding of what to do but you may find it hard to
put it into practice. Knowing what to do is not the same as knowing how to
do it. At the moment, you may be focusing very strongly on the information
content of research articles, and you may not be paying much attention to
the way that the content is delivered. However, once you become aware of
the structure and language used to deliver the content, this creates a ‘learning
circle’ in which your research reading actively and continually informs your
research writing.
What other material or books do I need?

As a science researcher you need to write in a way which is as similar as
possible to current successfully-published writing in your field. The book
shows you how to use the journal papers you read to develop the appropriate
writing skills, so you need to collect a set of target research articles before
you start. The set should consist of at least four recently-published research
papers from the journals you usually read. You will use these target research
articles to adapt what you learn to your own writing, and you should update
the set frequently.
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Your target research articles should:
· be written by a researcher/research team at an English-speaking

institution, or by a native speaker of English.
· deal with subject matter which is as close as possible to the kind of
research you are doing.
· be reasonably short (less than 15 sides including graphs and tables).
· be taken from the journals you wish to publish in.
· be no more than five years old, given the speed at which science
research writing is developing and changing.
· be research articles that you consider to be well written.*
· have clearly-defined Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and
Conclusion sections, or other identifiable subsections that fit the kind
of work you are doing. It will help if these have subtitles so that you
can locate them easily. The subtitles may vary in different disciplines
and in different journals; for example the Methods section may be
called Procedure, Model, Materials and Methods, Methodology,
Experimental, Data Collection or some other variation.
*I am grateful to Professor Monique Dorang for this point.
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Contents
Acknowledgements v

Preface to the Second Edition vii

Introduction xiii

Unit 1: How to Write the Introduction 1

1.1. The Structure and Content of the Introduction 3

1.2. Building a Model 4

1.3. Testing and Adjusting the Model 18

1.4. Useful Words and Phrases 45

1.5. Language and Writing Skills 53

1.6. Writing the Introduction 69

Unit 2: How to Write about Methods 73
2.1. The Structure and Content of the Methods Section 75





2.6. Writing a Methods Section 127

Unit 3: How to Write about Results 139
3.1. The Structure and Content of the Results 141



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3.5. Language and Writing Skills: The Certainty Continuum 183

Unit 4: How to Write the Discussion 189
4.1. How to Write the Discussion 191

4.2. Building Your Own Model
192
4.3. Testing and Adjusting the Basic Generic Model 209


4.5. Language and Writing Skills: Modal Verbs 229

4.6. Summary Discussion Exercise 242

Unit 5: How to Write the Conclusion 243




Unit 6: Writing the Abstract 263
6.1. Guidelines for the Abstract 266

6.2. Types of Abstract 269

6.3. A Generic Abstract Model 286

6.4. Language 290

6.5. Summary Abstract Exercise 297

Unit 7: Writing the Title 299
7.1. Check Average Length 304

7.2. Using Acronyms 305

7.3. Compare the Title Keywords to the Keyword List 306

7.4. Check the Grammar of the Title 307

7.5. Map and Model the Structural Content of the Titles

in Target Articles 309

7.6. Check that Expectations that the Title Suggests

Are Fulfilled in the Paper 310

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Contents
Unit 8: Checklist and Tips 313

8.1. Organising the Information 315

8.2. Creating Sentences 318

8.3. Grammar and Vocabulary 321

8.4. General 329

Sources and Credits 331

Appendix A: Prefixes Used in Science Writing 337

Appendix B: Research Verbs 341

Writing Skills Index 345

Language Index 347

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b2530_FM.indd 6 01-Sep-16 11:03:06 AM

Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
sometimes became ‘liquorish’ at the table, and on one occasion made rather
free with another man’s wife to the husband’s indignation until mollified
with the assurance of his spouse that she ‘did not like him at all.’ Even so,
thought the irate husband, Hamilton ‘appears very trifling in his
conversation with ladies.’[508] And ‘trifling’ indeed must have been much of
the talk.
Thus it was at a dinner at Clymer’s, a leading member of the House.
Present, Otis, the Binghams, the Willings—the top cream of the aristocracy.
Aha, cried the vivacious sister of Mrs. Bingham, referring to the host’s
newly acquired stomacher, and mentioning the touching case of the Duke of
York, recently married to the Duchess of Württemberg who was compelled
to cut a semi-circle out of his table to give access to his plate. Mrs. Bingham
coyly expressed sympathy for the Duchess. (Bursts of laughter and
applause.) But Clymer, not to be outdone, turned to his married sister with
the comment that he would ‘soon be able to retort this excellent jest on her.’
(Renewed laughter and more applause.) It was an hilarious occasion, the
applause ‘would have done credit to a national convention’ and ‘Miss Abby
and Miss Ann did not disguise their delight nor their bosoms.’[509] On now
to a dinner at Harrison’s, who married a sister of Mrs. Bingham, where one
of the guests, ‘after rallying Sophia ... upon her unfruitfulness,’ led to a
‘natural but not very flattering transition’ which ‘introduced Mrs. Champlin
and her want of prolific qualities as a seasoning for the Canvas Backs.’[510]
But let us hurry on to a third dinner, with Hamilton, his vivacious sisters-in-
law, Mrs. Church and Miss Schuyler. A lively company! Mrs. Church, ‘the
mirror of affectation,’ who is ‘more amusing than offensive’ because so
affable and free from ceremony; and, still more lively, Miss Schuyler ‘a
young wild flirt from Albany, full of glee and apparently desirous of
matrimony.’ Mrs. Church drops her shoe bow, Miss Schuyler picks it up and
fastens it in Hamilton’s button-hole with the remark, ‘I have made you a
knight.’ ‘But what order?’ asks Mrs. Church, ‘he can’t be a knight of the
garter in this country.’ ‘True, sister, but he would be if you would let him.’
Wine, women and song—such the spirit in some of the great houses in
moments of abandon. But it would be unfair to leave the impression these
incidents would convey. There were brilliant men of vast achievement, and
women of extraordinary charm and cleverness moving behind these
curtained windows. Let us meet them in the mansion of Mrs. Bingham—the
uncrowned queen of the Federalist group—the woman without a peer.
IV
None of the three capitals of the country have produced another social
leader of the cleverness, audacity, and regality of Mrs. William Bingham.
During the eight years of the domination of the Federalists, of whom her
husband was one of the leaders, there was no public character of the first
order who did not come under the influence of her fascination. By birth,
environment, nature, and training she was fitted to play a conspicuous part in
the social life of any capital in the world. The daughter of Willing, the
partner of Robert Morris, she was the favored of fortune. Some years before
her birth, her father, inspired by sentimental motives, built the mansion on
Third Street in which she was born, and patterned it after the ancestral home
in Bristol, England. There, surrounded by all the advantages of wealth, her
beauty unfolded through a happy childhood. The pomp and pride of great
possessions did not imbue her with a passion for republics or democracy.
She was destined to play a part in a rather flamboyant aristocracy, and was
as carefully perfected in the arts and graces of her sex as any princess
destined to a throne. In the midst of the Revolution, in her sixteenth year, she
married William Bingham who combined the advantages of wealth, social
position, and a capacity for political leadership.
She was only twenty, when, accompanied by her husband, she went
abroad to captivate court circles with her vivacity, charm, and beauty. At
Versailles, the gallants, accustomed to the ways and wiles of the most
accomplished women of fashion, were entranced. At The Hague, where she
lingered awhile, the members of the diplomatic corps fluttered about the
teasing charmer like moths about the flame. In the court circles of England
she suffered nothing in comparison with the best it could offer, and the
generous Abigail Adams, thrilling to the triumph of the young American,
found her brilliancy enough to dim the ineffectual fires of Georgiana,
Duchess of Devonshire. Five years of familiarity with the leaders in the
world of European fashion and politics prepared her to preside with stunning
success over the most famous political drawing-room of the American
capital.
It was after their return from Europe that Mrs. Bingham moved into the
imposing mansion on Third Street built on the ample grounds of her
childhood home. All the arts of the architect, landscape gardener, and
interior decorator had been drawn upon to make a fit setting for the mistress.
The garden, with its flowers and rare shrubbery, its lemon, orange, and citron
trees, its aloes and exotics, was shut off from the view of the curious, only
mighty oaks and the Lombardy poplars visible above the wall—‘a
magnificent house and gardens in the best English style.’[511] The
furnishings were in keeping with the promise of the exterior. ‘The chairs in
the drawing-room were from Seddon’s in London of the newest taste, the
back in the form of a lyre, with festoons, of yellow and crimson silk,’
according to the description of an English tourist. ‘The curtains of the room
a festoon of the same. The carpet, one of Moore’s most expensive patterns.
The room papered in the French taste, after the style of the Vatican in
Rome.’[512] The halls, hung with pictures selected with fine discrimination
in Italy, gave a promise not disappointed in the elegance of the drawing-
rooms, the library, the ballroom, card-rooms, and observatory.[513] To some
this extravagant display of luxury was depressing, and Brissot de Warville,
who was to return to Paris to die on the guillotine as a leader of the ill-fated
party of the Gironde, held the
MRS. WILLIAM BINGHAM
mistress of the mansion responsible for the aristocratic spirit of the town. It
was a pity, he thought, that a man so sensible and amiable as Bingham
should have permitted a vain wife to lead him to ‘a pomp which ought
forever have been a stranger to Philadelphia.’ And all this display ‘to draw
around him the gaudy prigs and parasites of Europe,’ and lead ‘to the
reproach of his fellow citizens and the ridicule of strangers.’[514] But if the
French republican was shocked, even so robust a democrat as Maclay was so
little offended that he was able to write after dining at the mansion that
‘there is a propriety, a neatness, a cleanliness that adds to the splendor of his
costly furniture and elegant apartments.’[515]
And ‘the dazzling Mrs. Bingham,’ as the conservative Abigail described
her,[516] what of her? The elegance and beauty which has come down to us
on canvas prepares us for the glowing descriptions of contemporaries. Hers
was the type of patrician beauty that shimmered. She was above the medium
height and well-formed, and in her carriage there was sprightliness, dignity,
elegance, and distinction. Sparkling with wit, bubbling with vivacity, she had
the knack of convincing the most hopeless yokel introduced into her
drawing-room by the exigencies of politics that she found his personality
peculiarly appealing. Daring at the card-table, graceful in the dance, witty in
conversation even though sometimes too adept with the naughty devices of a
Congreve dialogue, inordinately fond of all the dissipations prescribed by
fashion, tactful in the selection and placing of her guests at table, she richly
earned the scepter she waved so authoritatively over society.[517] What
though she did sometimes stain her pretty lips with wicked oaths, she swore
as daintily as the Duchess of Devonshire, and if she did seem to relish
anecdotes a bit too spicy for a puritanic atmosphere, she craved not the
privilege of breathing such air.[518]
Hers the consuming ambition to be the great lady and to introduce into
American society the ideas and ideals of Paris and London. Did Jefferson
gently chide her for her admiration of French women? Well—was she not
justified? Did they not ‘possess the happy art of making us pleased with
ourselves?’ In their conversation could they not ‘please both the fop and the
philosopher?’ And despite their seeming frivolity, did not these ‘women of
France interfere with the politics of the country, and often give a decided
turn to the fate of empires?’ In this letter to the man she admired and liked,
while loathing his politics, we have the nearest insight into the soul of the
woman.[519]
But these graver ambitions were not revealed to many who observed her
mode of life, her constant round of dissipations, her putting aside the
responsibilities of a mother, leaving her daughters to their French
governesses until the tragic elopement of Marie with a dissipated nobleman,
and the apprehension of the pair after their marriage at the home of a
milliner in the early morning. Hers were not the prim notions of the average
American of her time. It was Otis, not she, who was shocked to find Marie
so thinly dressed in mid-winter that he was ‘regaled at the sight of her whole
legs for five minutes together,’ and wondered ‘to what height the fashion
would be carried.’[520] Swearing, relating risqué stories, indulging in
dissipations night after night, shaming her motherhood by her affected
indifference or neglect, the fact remains that the breath of scandal never
touched her until the final scene when in her early thirties they bore her on a
stretcher from the home of her triumphs in the vain hope of prolonging her
life in the soft air of the Bermudas.
And so to her dinners, dances, parties, the clever men of the Federalist
Party flocked, with only a sprinkling of Jeffersonians, for, though Jefferson
himself could always count on a gracious reception from the hostess, he was
not comfortable among the other guests. Always the best was to be had there
—and the newest. Did she not introduce the foreign custom of having
servants announce the arriving guests, to the discomfiture of Monroe?
‘Senator Monroe,’ called the flunky.
‘Coming,’ cried the Senator.
‘Senator Monroe’—echoed a flunky down the hall.
‘Coming as soon as I can get my greatcoat off,’ promised the Senator.
But we may be sure that no expression of amusement on the face of the
beaming Mrs. Bingham added to his embarrassment.
‘A very pretty dinner, Madame,’ said the intolerable Judge Chase, after
looking over the proffered repast, ‘but there is not a thing on your table that I
can eat.’
An expression of surprise or resentment on the hostess’s face? Not at all.
What would the Judge relish? Roast beef? Very well—and a servant received
his orders and soon hurried back with beef and potatoes to be gluttonously
devoured and washed down with a couple of bottles of stout ale instead of
French wines.
‘There, Madame,’ said the Judge, made comfortable, ‘I have made a
sensible and excellent dinner, but no thanks to your French cook.’
And he never knew from the lady’s pleased expression that she thought
him an insufferable bore.
Such the woman whose home was to be to the Hamiltonians what
Madame Roland’s was to the Girondists, and Lady Holland’s to the English
Whigs. Now let us peep into the drawing-room and observe the men and
women who bowed to her social scepter.
In deference to Mrs. Bingham we shall permit the servant to announce

these visitors as they arrive.
‘Mr. and Mrs. Robert Morris.’
No doubt about their importance, for he was as intimate with Washington
as she with Mrs. Washington, and such was her intimacy that she was
frequently referred to as ‘the second lady in the land.’ It was she who
accompanied Mrs. Washington from Philadelphia to New York after the
inauguration, and during the spring and autumn the two might frequently be
seen under the trees at ‘The Hills,’ the Morris farm near the city, enjoying
the view of the river and such pastoral pictures as were offered by the
imported sheep and cattle grazing on the rolling hills. Of Mrs. Morris it was
said that ‘so impressive is her air and demeanor that those who saw her once
seldom forgot her.’[521] She had dignity, tact, and elegance, and, like Mrs.
Washington, no respect for ‘the filthy democrats.’ She was a thorough
aristocrat. Her husband, banker, merchant, Senator, was of imposing height,
his merry blue eyes, clear complexion, and strong features denoting
something of his significance; and he had the social graces that captivate and
hold. His wealth alone would have made him a commanding figure in the
society of the time and place. Some generations were to settle on his grave
before he was to appear as the martyr who had sacrificed a fortune to liberty,
for there was a different understanding in his day.[522] A natural aristocrat,
ultra-conservative because of his business connections and great
possessions, if he was tolerant of the experiment in republicanism, he took
no pains to conceal his contempt of democracy—in Senate or drawing-room.
‘Mrs. Walter Stewart.’
Another of the intimate circle of the Washingtons who dwelt in a fine
house next door to the Morrises, she was one of the most brilliant and
fascinating women with whom Mrs. Bingham liked to surround herself. A
long way she had traveled from her girlhood home as the daughter of Blair
McClenachan, the ardent democrat who was to help burn Jay’s Treaty,
welcome Genêt, and to follow Jefferson, for she was the wife of the rich
General Stewart, and had been seduced by the glitter of the aristocracy. Like
Mrs. Bingham, she had had her fling with the nobility in London, Paris,
Berlin, and Rome, and had returned to open her house for some of the most
elaborate entertaining of her time. In striking beauty, conversational charm,
and a caressing manner, she rivaled Mrs. Bingham at her best. About her
dinner table the leaders of the Federalist Party were frequently found.[523]
‘Mrs. Samuel Powell.’
An interesting lady, ‘who looks turned fifty,’[524] enters to be greeted by
the hostess as ‘Aunt.’ A courteous, kindly woman, almost motherly in her
manner, she talks with the fluency and ease to be expected of the mistress of
the famous house on ‘Society Hill.’[525] No one of Mrs. Bingham’s guests
who has not promenaded on summer evenings in the Powell gardens, the
walks lined with statuary.[526]
‘General and Mrs. Knox.’
An impressive figure, the Secretary of War, his height carrying the two
hundred and eighty pounds not ungracefully, his regular Grecian nose, florid
complexion, bright, penetrating eyes giving an attractive cast to his
countenance. They who know him best suspect that he enjoys too well the
pleasures of the table, but love him for a kindliness that temper cannot sour,
a sincerity and generosity that know no bounds, a gayety that his dignity
cannot suppress—a fine sentimental figure with a Revolutionary
background. What though he had been a bookseller before he eloped with a
lady of quality, he was too keenly appreciative of the advantages of
aristocracy to have much patience with the queer notions of Tom Jefferson,
whom he liked. He rubbed his shins when Hamilton stumbled over a chair.
And Mrs. Knox—she must have been a dashing belle in her romantic
youth, for despite her enormous weight, she was still handsome with her
black eyes and blooming cheeks.[527] Passing her girlhood in the Loyalist
atmosphere of an aristocratic home, she had never become reconciled to the
impertinence of the people, and even during the war her adoring Henry had
been moved to warn her against sneering openly at the manners and speech
of the people of Connecticut. ‘The want of refinement which you seem to
speak of is, or will be, the salvation of America,’ he wrote.[528] But hers was
the more masterful nature and his democracy was to capitulate to her
aristocracy in the end.[529] But—whither goes the lady from the drawing-
room so quickly? Ah—of course, it is to the card-room, for was it not the
gossip that ‘the follies of a gambling wife are passed on to the debits of her
husband?’[530] In the morning, no doubt, she will run in on Mrs. Washington
at the Morris house, for they are very close.
‘Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Hamilton.’
What a romantic picture he makes in the finery that sets him off so well—
brilliant eyes sparkling, eloquent lips smiling, a courtly figure bending over
the hostess’s hand. Only a moment for the lightest kind of banter with the
ladies, and he is off to the Pemberton mansion to work far into the night.
Mrs. Hamilton will linger a little longer, an appealing type of woman, her
delicate face set off by ‘fine eyes which are very dark’ and ‘hold the life and
energy of the restrained countenance.’[531] Hamilton had found her in the
Schuyler homestead at Albany, ‘a brunette with the most good-natured, dark
lovely eyes,’[532] gentle, retiring, but in the home circle full of gayety and
courage. Weeks and months sometimes found her missing from the social
circle, for with her, in those days, life was just one baby after another.
‘Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Wolcott, and Miss Wolcott.’
A pleasing personality was that of the handsome protégé of Hamilton,
breathing the spirit of jollity, given to badinage, capable, too, of serious
conversation on books and plays. He loses himself in the lively throng, but
his infectious laughter is as revealing of his presence as the bell of Bossy in
the woods. But we are more interested in his companions. Mrs. Wolcott was
all loveliness and sweetness, grace and dignity, and such was the appeal of
her conversation that one statesman thought her ‘a divine woman’; another,
‘the magnificent Mrs. Wolcott’; and the brusque Senator Tracy of her State,
on being assured by a condescending diplomat that she would shine at any
court, snorted that she even shone at Litchfield.[533] Even so the eyes of the
younger men are upon Mary Ann Wolcott, sister of the Federalist leader, a
pearl of her sex, combining an extraordinary physical beauty with opulent
charms, and a conversational brilliance unsurpassed by any woman of the
social circle. Very soon she would marry the clever, cynical Chauncey
Goodrich and take her place in official society in her own right. The
Wolcotts, we may be sure, read Paine’s ‘Rights of Man’ with amazement and
disgust.
‘Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Sedgwick.’
A magnificent type of physical manhood, the face of one accustomed to
command and sneer down opposition; a woman of elegance and refinement,
typical of the best New England could offer in a matron.
‘Pierce Butler.’
A handsome widower this man, maintaining an elegant establishment in
Philadelphia, who affected to be a democrat, and carefully selected his
associates from among the aristocracy, a South Carolinian with a certain
reverence for wealth.
‘Mrs. William Jackson.’
An equally charming but less beautiful sister of the hostess, now wife of
one of Washington’s secretaries, a favorite at the Morris mansion, and with
no time for thinking on the grievances of the yokels and mechanics—an
American prototype of the merry ladies of Versailles before the storm broke.
Among the foreign faces we miss the tall figure of Talleyrand whose
Philadelphia immoralities shocked the French Minister, and whose affairs
with a lady of color[534] excluded him from the Bingham drawing-room. But
there is Viscount de Noailles who had proposed the abolition of feudal rights
in the early days of the French Revolution; and Count Tilley, the dissipated
roué planning an elopement with his hostess’s daughter with the connivance
of her French governess; and Brissot de Warville, enlightened political
idealist of France soon to fall beneath the knife of Robespierre. There, too,
the Duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt who was redolent of courts, and the
Baring brothers of London, bankers, soon to marry the Bingham girls.
A veritable Vanity Fair, many clever, some brilliant, most skeptical of
republics, idolatrous of money and distinctions, and few capable of
discriminating between anarchy and democracy. Such was the social
atmosphere of the capital when the fight to determine whether this should be
a democratic or aristocratic republic was made.
VI
We have an English-drawn picture of an evening at the British Legation
with many American guests gathered about the blazing fire. The Consul is
‘descanting on various subjects, public and private, as well as public and
private characters, sometimes with unbecoming levity, sometimes with
sarcasm even more unbecoming.’ An English guest was afraid that such talk
‘could hardly fail to be offensive to ... many of the guests and to the good
taste of all.’ But could this English gentleman have listened in on the
conversations at Mrs. Bingham’s, Mrs. Morris’s, or Mrs. Stewart’s, he might
have concluded that these reflections on certain public characters were
altogether pleasing to the principal figures in the society of the capital.[535]
And could he have returned a little later to find society chuckling over the
display in the windows of a newspaper office of the pictures of George III,
Lord North, and General Howe, he might have decided that there was a
pronouncedly pro-English party in America. Had he driven about the
environs, among the hills, and along the banks of the rivers, he would have
seen country houses of the aristocracy—Lansdowne, the seat of the
Binghams; Bush Hill, where the Adamses lived at first; Woodford, and other
country places to suggest similar seats in his own land. And had he been
meandering in the neighborhood of Horsehead’s or Chew’s Landing, seven
or nine miles out, he might have been startled at the familiar English picture
of gentlemen in bright coats, the pack in full cry after the fox.[536] And
having made these observations he could have found some extenuation in
the conversation in the British Minister’s house.
The snobbery of class consciousness entered into even the Dancing
Assembly which held forth at frequent intervals at O’Eller’s, in a ballroom
sixty feet square, with a handsome music gallery at one end, and the walls
papered after the French style.[537] The suppers at these dances were mostly
liquid,[538] and, since it is on record that on hot summer days ladies and
gentlemen could count on a cool iced punch with pineapple juice to heighten
the color, it may be assumed that the Assembly suppers were a success.[539]
The fact that the young ladies sometimes took two pair of slippers, lest they
dance one out, hints of all-night revels.[540] And the expulsion from
membership of a young woman who had dared marry a jeweler tells its own
tale.[541] At the theater, which was usually crowded,[542] the aristocrats and
democrats met without mingling, for the different prices put every one in his
or her place, and if wine and porter were sold between acts to the people in
the pit ‘precisely as if they were in a tavern,’[543] the aristocracy paid eight
dollars for a box,[544] and an attaché, in full dress of black, hair powdered
and adjusted in the formal fashion, and bearing silver candlesticks and wax
candles, would meet Washington at the entrance and conduct him with much
gravity to the presidential box, festooned with red drapery, and bearing the
United States coat of arms.[545] ‘The managers have been very polite to me
and my family,’ wrote Mrs. Adams. ‘The actors came and informed us that a
box is prepared for us. The Vice-President thanked them for their civility,
and told them he would attend whenever the President did.’[546] On these
occasions, when the highest dignitaries of the State attended, a stranger,
dropped from the clouds, would have scarcely thought himself in a republic.
At the theater he would have found a military guard, with an armed soldier
at each stage door, with four or five others in the gallery, and these assisted
by the high constables of the city and police officers.[547] There was no
danger threatening but the occasion offered the opportunity for pompous
display so tempting to the society of the city.
At first the statesmen had to content themselves with the old Southwark
Theater, which was dreary enough architecturally, lighted with oil lamps
without glasses, and with frequent pillars obstructing the view.[548] But the
best plays were presented, by good if not brilliant players, and the
aristocracy flirted and frolicked indifferent to the resentful glances of the
poorer classes in less favored seats. It reached the climax of its career just as
the new theater was about to open with the then celebrated tragic actress,
Mrs. Melmoth—and soon afterward, the new Chestnut Street Theater
opened its doors and raised its curtain. The opening was an event—the
public entranced. Two or three rows of boxes, a gallery with Corinthian
columns highly gilded and with a crimson ribbon from capital to base.
Above the boxes, crimson drapery—panels of rose color—seats for two
thousand. ‘As large as Covent Garden,’ wrote Wansey, ‘and to judge by the
dress and appearance of the company around me, and the actors and scenery,
I should have thought I had still been in England.’[549] And such a company!
There was Fennell, noted in Paris for his extravagance, socially ambitious,
and handsome, too, with his six feet of stature, and ever-ready blush, about
whom flocked the literary youth of the town. Ladies—the finest trembled to
his howls of tragedy and simpered to his comedy. There, too, was Harwood,
who had married the granddaughter of Ben Franklin—a perfect gentleman;
and Mrs. Oldmixon, the spouse of Sir John, the ‘beau of Bath,’ who divided
honors in his day with Nash and Brummel; and Mrs. Whitlock, whom her
admirers insisted did not shine merely by the reflected glory of her sister,
Mrs. Siddons.
Quite as appealing to both aristocrat and democrat was the Circus at
Twelfth and Market Streets, established in 1792 by John Ricketts whose
credentials to society were in his erstwhile connection with the Blackfriars
Bridge Circus of London. Washington and Martha occasionally witnessed
the performances, quite soberly we may be sure, and the ‘court party’ thus
got its cue if any were needed. The proprietor riding two horses at full
gallop, Signor Spinacuta dancing daringly on a tight rope, a clown tickling
the risibilities of the crowd and mingling Mrs. Bingham’s laughter with that
of Mrs. Jones, her washwoman, women on horseback doing stunts, and a
trained horse that could leap over other horses without balking—such were
the merry nights under the dripping candles.[550]
Then there was Bowen’s Wax Works and museum of curiosities and
paintings and the museum of Mr. Peale—and under the same roof with the
latter the reading-room of the Philosophical Society, where Jefferson was to
find a sanctuary in the days when he was to be anathema in the fashionable
drawing-rooms.
Frivolity, extravagance, exaggerated imitation of Old-World dissipations,
could scarcely have been suited to Jefferson’s taste; but when he wished for
society of another sort he could always run in on Rittenhouse to discuss
science, or on Dr. Rush who mixed politics with powders, or, better still, he
could drive out to ‘Stenton,’ the beautiful country house of Dr. James Logan
and his cultured wife, approached by its glorious avenue of hemlocks. There
he could sit under the trees on the lawn or walk in the old-fashioned gardens
or browse in the fine library. There before the huge fireplace in the lofty
wainscoted rooms he could sit with the Doctor and discuss the aristocratic
tendencies of the times—and this he frequently did. Despite his democracy,
Jefferson lived like an aristocrat. He had found a place in the country near
the city where the house was ‘entirely embosomed in high plane trees with
good grass below,’ and there, on warm summer days, he was wont to
‘breakfast, dine, write, read, and entertain company’ under the trees. Even in
its luxury, his was the home of the philosopher. It was under these plane
trees that he worked out much of the strategy of his political battles.[551]
Such was the social background for the struggle of Hamilton and Jefferson
—with little in it to strengthen or encourage the latter in his fight.
CHAPTER VII
JEFFERSON MOBILIZES
W HEN Jefferson assumed the task of organizing the opposition to the

policies of the Federalists all the forces most susceptible to
organization and intelligent direction were arrayed upon the other side.
The commercial interests, constituting Hamilton’s shock troops, had their
organizations in all the larger towns and in a crisis could be speedily
mobilized in the smaller. The various Chambers of Commerce were
Federalist clubs that could be summoned to action on a day’s notice. The
financial interests, always in close formation when not sleeping on their
arms, could be ordered to the front overnight. The live-wire speculators
whose fortunes had sprung up magically were on their toes to do battle for
the system that had enriched them, and eager to do the bidding of the
magician who had waved the wand. The greater part of the intellectuals,
lawyers, doctors, professors, preachers, were enthusiastic champions of
Hamiltonian policies—and because of their prestige these were powerful
factors in the moulding of opinion. And, most serious of all, from Jefferson’s
point of view, the major portion of the press was either militantly
Hamiltonian or indifferently democratic. In the drawing-rooms were heard
the sentiments of the Chambers of Commerce—in glorification of
materialism.
The rich, the powerful, and their retainers among the men of the
professions, were bound to the Federalist by a common interest in property
and a common fear of the masses. Since the policies of Hamilton were
frankly in the interests of the commercial classes, their supporters were
found largely in cities and towns of the commercial North—within easy
reach. A word from the chief to his leaders in the capital—Ames and Cabot
of Massachusetts; King, Schuyler, and Lawrence of New York; Wolcott and
Ellsworth of Connecticut; Morris, Bingham, and Fitzsimmons of
Pennsylvania; Dayton of New Jersey; McHenry of Maryland;
FISHER AMES ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER
GEORGE CABOT GOUVERNEUR MORRIS
Smith and Harper of South Carolina—a word from these to the

commercial leaders in their States, and from these a word to those under
obligations to them—the small merchants operating on credit—and the
coffee-houses buzzed, the Chambers of Commerce acted, editors plied their
pens, preachers thundered from pulpits, and even at the social functions they
danced and flirted in the war paint of the party.
As Jefferson surveyed the field, he observed that his great antagonist’s
organization was but a consolidation of organizations previously existent—
and these imposing in their representation of wealth, intellect, and social
prestige. Hamilton could snap his fingers, and the merchants came; could lift
his hand, and the officers of the Cincinnati were in the saddle; could wave
his wand, and Fenno, Russell, and other potent editors would instantly do his
bidding, and the preachers of New England scarcely waited for the sign to
pass the devil by to damn democracy.
But Jefferson had his eye on other forces, numerically stronger, if less
imposing. The farmers, comprising ninety per cent of the Nation, were
resentful of policies that pampered the merchant and left them out in the
cold. The private soldiers of the Revolution, less respected then than when
Webster made his Bunker Hill address, were embittered because their
securities had gone for a song while speculators had waxed wealthy on the
sacrifice. The more robust republicans were shocked at the aristocratic
affectations of their rulers and the tone of the Federalist press. The excise
law was hated in the remote sections, and unpopular with the masses
everywhere. The doctrine of implied powers had alarmed the friends of State
sovereignty. There was an undercurrent of feeling, which Jefferson, with ear
marvelously keen for rumblings, caught, that laws were passed for the few at
the expense of the many. And it was being bruited abroad that in high
quarters there was a disposition to cultivate England to the neglect of France.
Everywhere through the South and West there was a bitter resentment of
government by and for the East.
Including all, and more important than any single one, there was a fervent
spirit of democracy running through the land, while the Federalist leaders
were openly denouncing the democrats. ‘Looking simply at the field of
American history,’ says Professor Anson D. Morse, ‘it would be just to
enumerate among the causes of the Democratic Party all influences which
from the beginning of the colonial period carried forward at a really
marvelous rate the democratization of the American character.’[552] The
country was really democratic before there was a party of democracy.
Jefferson knew it; Hamilton never suspected it, or, suspecting, determined to
override the sentiment. Therein lies the original cause of the ultimate
triumph of Jefferson, and the evidence that the Federalist Party was
foredoomed to ultimate failure.
But how to reach, galvanize, vitalize, organize this great widely scattered
mass of unimportant, inarticulate individuals—that was the problem that
confronted Jefferson. Ninety-five per cent of the people lived in the country
or in villages. Communication was difficult. There were for them no
Chambers of Commerce, no coffee-houses, no Faneuil Halls. Thousands had
no idea what was going on outside the boundaries of their isolated farms and
villages. If the masses in the cities were in sympathy with democracy—and
they were—comparatively few of these were permitted to vote. Under the
John Jay Constitution of New York, as late as 1790, only 1303 of the 13,330
male residents of voting age in New York City were allowed to vote with the
property qualification deliberately designed for their disfranchisement.[553]
In Vermont alone, of the New England States, no property qualification
attached to the suffrage, albeit in New Hampshire any male paying tax,
however small, was qualified. In Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and
Connecticut great numbers were excluded by their poverty. Thus, in the
beginning, the thousands of hewers of wood and drawers of water in the
towns and cities of the North were lost to all practical purposes. But all of
the common folk were not disfranchised, and they who had the vote were
splendid material for a militant organization. They had a genius for practical
politics when under the orders of a drill master, and were not too fastidious
for the grime and sweat of the polling-places. One of these was worth a
dozen dandies from Mrs. Bingham’s circle on election day.[554] There was
abundant material for a party—if it could be assembled and coordinated.
II
As Jefferson’s mild eye surveyed the field, he found in almost every State
local parties, some long in existence, fighting for popular rights as they
understood them; but their fights had been waged on local issues. The party
he was to create was to fight in precisely the same cause—on the national
field. Here, then, was something already at hand. Why not consolidate these
local parties into one great national organization, and broaden the issue to
include the problems of both State and Nation? The local leaders? Why not
make them field marshals in command of the Massachusetts division, the
North Carolina division, Pennsylvania and Maryland divisions?
The philosopher-politician took up his pen, for he had learned in the
organization of the Revolution what could be done through correspondence.
Out under the plane trees he was to sit at his table writing—to Sam Adams,
to Rutledge, to John Taylor, to Willie Jones. Under his roof and at his table
conferences with Madison, Monroe, Giles, Bloodworth, became
commonplace. ‘Oh, I should note that Mr. Jefferson, with more than Parisian
politeness, waited on me at my chamber this morning,’ wrote Maclay. ‘He
talked politics, mostly the French difference and the whale fishery.’[555] A
very cautious approach, we may be sure, for the master politician and
psychologist thoroughly understood the little vanities, prejudices, and
weaknesses of that singularly suspicious democrat. Quite different would
have been a conversation with Gallatin or Monroe. Taking an inventory of
prospective lieutenants in the States, and comparing the material with that
against him, he could not but have realized his disadvantage. Brilliant men
are prone to flutter about the rich and powerful, and nothing succeeds like
success with the strong. No chance for him to ride to war surrounded by
such scintillating company as that which encircled Hamilton—but here and
there was a man who shimmered in the sun.
In Massachusetts, home of Ames, Cabot, and Sedgwick, Jefferson could
count on two men who surpassed any of this famous group in service in the
making of the Republic, but, strange as it may seem in perspective, old Sam
Adams and John Hancock were not in good standing with the staid business
men of Boston. Their republicanism was too robust, their devotion to the
principles of the Declaration too uncompromising for the materialists, who
appeared, for the most part, on the battle-field after the fight was won, to
claim the fruits of the victory. Sam Adams had lost his race for Congress to
Fisher Ames who had dallied with his books when the ragged Continentals
were struggling in the field. When the clever politicians of the Essex Junto
exchanged letters, these erstwhile Revolutionary heroes of the dark days
were seldom mentioned with respect; but they had their following in the
streets and among those who had shared in the perils they had faced. Upon
these two Jefferson could rely.
But there were others, more active and militant in the Boston of those
days in the building of the party of democracy. Foremost in the fight, and
most annoying to the ruling oligarchy, was the brilliant Dr. Charles Jarvis,
who was a powerful orator[556] whose social status, on a par with that of
Otis, raised him above the condescension or contempt of the moneyed
aristocracy, and whose ability was beyond the reach of disparagement.[557]
Through many years of leadership in the legislature he ‘had made the rights
of man his pole star.’[558] No one did so much to organize and vitalize the
masses, for he could pass from the legislative hall to the public platform
without any diminution of power. As in the former he could match the best
in argument, on the latter no one knew better how to direct the storm.
‘Jarvis’s electioneering influence in this town is very great,’ wrote John
Quincy Adams to his father.[559]
As a file leader, organizer, agitator, he had powerful support in the robust,
rough-hewn rope-maker, Ben Austin, who wrestled under the rules of catch-
as-catch-can, mingled with the element that Ames and Cabot considered
vulgar, and under the signature of ‘Honestus’ dealt telling blows in letters
that the mechanic could understand. ‘Rabid essays,’ they were—judged by
the standard of the élite.[560] Sam Adams, John Hancock, Austin, and Jarvis
—these were the Jeffersonian leaders in the Old Bay State. Less aggressive,
but often valuable, was James Sullivan, orator, leader of the Bar, letter-writer
and pamphleteer, whose vigorous mind, powers of application, and
indomitable courage were to render yeoman service.
In the other New England States the democrats were less fortunate. In
Connecticut, ruled with an iron hand by an oligarchy of preachers,
professors, and reactionary politicians, the prospects were dark enough, but
even there the Jeffersonians found a leader capable of coping with the best
of the opposition in the hard-hitting, resourceful Abraham Bishop, who was
a veritable scandal and stench to the gentlemen of the cloth and of the
counting-room. Nowhere in America was such an amazing combination of
Church and State. Election days were celebrated with religious services, and
the sermons were party harangues, described by the irreverent Bishop as
consisting of ‘a little of governor, a little of Congress, much of politics, and a
very little of religion—a strange compote, like a carrot pie, having so little

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I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all my brilliant colleagues in

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Preface to the Second Edition

Science research writing is changing and developing, influenced by factors

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Science Research Writing

A third factor driving the change in science research communication is

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Preface to the Second Edition

All of these changes are having a profound effect on research writing,

Changes in This Second Edition

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Science Research Writing

science research communication now and in the future, including grant

In the same way, analysing the organisational scaffold, writing patterns

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Preface to the Second Edition

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Science research writing is not simply about presenting information, or even

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Science Research Writing

What does a narrative wrap look like?

PLANNING THE FUNCTION AND

PLANNING: THE UNDERLYING NARRATIVE SCAFFOLD

Planning: The Underlying Narrative Scaffold

IDENTIFYING GENRE AND READERSHIP What am I constructing? A research

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Writing: The Active Narrative Wrap

COMMENTING ON INFORMATION/DATA FOR THE READER Have I (perhaps

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Science Research Writing

MAKING GRAMMAR CHOICES THAT COMMUNICATE THE FUNCTION OF THE

What strategy is used in this book?

WRITING THE DISCUSSION SECTION:

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The strategy is as follows:

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Science Research Writing

4. Continually reinforce, adjust, update and develop 1–3 above via

Who is this book for?

Unit 8: Checklist and Tips 313