Making science "popular science", what are the "tricks" used by authors?
October 31, 2016 9:12 AM Subscribe
What are the "tricks" used by authors such as Malcolm Gladwell in making science topics into "popular science"?
In other words, if you were to deconstruct his writings, what patterns emerge?
Does anyone have anymore information on this?
In other words, if you were to deconstruct his writings, what patterns emerge?
Does anyone have anymore information on this?
Simplification, especially using common language as much as possible.
Examples, analogies and metaphors.
Einstein was asked for a simple explanation of relativity. He used a train (and maybe lightening?).
If you read an article or see a TV show about an advance in medicine, they always start with a patient. This approach is used so exclusively, it drives me mad. It's totally a signature at 60 Minutes.
posted by SemiSalt at 9:34 AM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
Examples, analogies and metaphors.
Einstein was asked for a simple explanation of relativity. He used a train (and maybe lightening?).
If you read an article or see a TV show about an advance in medicine, they always start with a patient. This approach is used so exclusively, it drives me mad. It's totally a signature at 60 Minutes.
posted by SemiSalt at 9:34 AM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
The "start with a patient, ideally someone whose illness tugs at the heartstrings" is totally a thing, even in more august sources than Sixty Minutes. I just finished reading Siddartha Mukherjee's The Emperor Of All Maladies, which won a Pulitzer Prize. He starts the book with the story of a patient of his on the oncology ward who had a very rare form of leukemia, and the book is peppered with stories of "ordinary people" in the present day who've been diagnosed with a form cancer that Mukherjee wants to talk about.
Not that this is a bad thing, at all! And Mukherjee employs a lot of other ways of talking to a general audience about what is ultimately a very complex disease. But yes, one of his tactics, and the first one he employs, is to humanize by way of talking about patients.
posted by Sara C. at 10:19 AM on October 31, 2016 [3 favorites]
Not that this is a bad thing, at all! And Mukherjee employs a lot of other ways of talking to a general audience about what is ultimately a very complex disease. But yes, one of his tactics, and the first one he employs, is to humanize by way of talking about patients.
posted by Sara C. at 10:19 AM on October 31, 2016 [3 favorites]
Gladwell in particular uses sports analogies a lot to make his topic more accessible.
A pattern with Gladwell is identifying a phenomenon, reducing it to an absolute (or false dichotomy), then using that as the framework for exploring whatever social or behavioral issue.
A really clear example of this is his podcast episode on donating to higher education. His argument: in some sports, teams are as good as their best player (basketball), while in others, they are only as good as their worst player (soccer). Our society is more like soccer. Therefore, when donating, you should choose lower-tier schools as they are the "weak links."
Or: artists either iterate meticulously like Cezanne, or produce in a creative burst like Picasso. Bob Dylan is like Picasso, Leonard Cohen is Cezanne.
posted by mama casserole at 10:52 AM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
A pattern with Gladwell is identifying a phenomenon, reducing it to an absolute (or false dichotomy), then using that as the framework for exploring whatever social or behavioral issue.
A really clear example of this is his podcast episode on donating to higher education. His argument: in some sports, teams are as good as their best player (basketball), while in others, they are only as good as their worst player (soccer). Our society is more like soccer. Therefore, when donating, you should choose lower-tier schools as they are the "weak links."
Or: artists either iterate meticulously like Cezanne, or produce in a creative burst like Picasso. Bob Dylan is like Picasso, Leonard Cohen is Cezanne.
posted by mama casserole at 10:52 AM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
I think Sara C's answer gets you 90% of the way there; you need a character, and the usual story elements ( motivation, conflict, plot). John McPhee wrote a thousand pages about geology (literally: rocks), and it's a terrific page turner because of the way he intersperses scientist's stories (among others) with the science of the rocks.
His book about Oranges, a classic of the genre, employs the same techniques, but is much more approachable at 120 or so pages and not quite as scientifically dense, if you want to grab something as an easy to grok example.
posted by notyou at 11:12 AM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
His book about Oranges, a classic of the genre, employs the same techniques, but is much more approachable at 120 or so pages and not quite as scientifically dense, if you want to grab something as an easy to grok example.
posted by notyou at 11:12 AM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
straw: For Gladwell in particular, I think this parody is one of the wittiest deconstructions I've read
For shorter articles about science, see Martin Robbins' parody This is a news website article about a scientific paper.
How to write a scientific abstract in six easy steps is related, but intended as a positive example and aimed at communication between scientists rather than with the public.
posted by James Scott-Brown at 11:45 AM on October 31, 2016
For shorter articles about science, see Martin Robbins' parody This is a news website article about a scientific paper.
How to write a scientific abstract in six easy steps is related, but intended as a positive example and aimed at communication between scientists rather than with the public.
posted by James Scott-Brown at 11:45 AM on October 31, 2016
Not sure if this is responsive to your question, but this explains pretty well how to translate complex ideas for a general readership.
posted by heavenknows at 1:01 PM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by heavenknows at 1:01 PM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
(I've got a whole bunch more negatives about Gladwell on my blog, but most of them are about particular substance, not about his general style. These two, I think, capture a lot of what he uses in his books.)
posted by straw at 9:23 AM on October 31, 2016 [8 favorites]