Why Not Say it Clearly?: Guide to Scientific Writing

Although this book has a medical orientation, its lessons go beyond the confines of medicine and apply to exposition of any type. It is the author's intent to induce in the reader the ability to discriminate good writing from bad, to develop a gut reaction against whatever is clumsy and unclear, to identify specific factors that make bad writing bad, and then to effect improvement. A large part of the book deals with the concept of style and the way to compare various prose styles. Also given are hints on such topics as how to begin writing, how to revise or edit, how to overcome writer's block, and when to consider the work finished. One chapter deals with the special problems of translation.