What's so great about the writing in these texts?

Above all, they follow the principles of clarity: concision, verb-driven sentences, cohesive paragraphs, and so on. This is true even for the more classical choices, such as Alan Turing, William James, or Claude Shannon.

But many of these texts go beyond clear style to use creative narrative techniques to bring their research to life. For example, many use what I call "bottom-up introductions": instead of starting with some generic words about a "research gap," they start with a thought-provoking example to demonstrate the research problem they will address. Notice that when you read this sort of intro, you're hooked—you want to understand the science behind what you just read.

How do you know these are good scientists?

Every one of the authors here is highly distinguished in his or her field. Many are Nobel Laureates or winners of other comparable awards, such as the Russ, Draper, or Gordon prizes in engineering. You'll also notice that many texts are published in Nature, Science, or the top journals in your various fields. I have curated this list carefully to ensure I'm only showing you excellence.

Why do you only have journal articles here? Why not books?

It's true that some of the best scientific writing is in books, not journals. If I allowed books in here, the showcase would grow quickly indeed.

But young scholars nearly always begin their careers writing articles. And I've found that if I show them book samples, they like them but think the style is not something they can adopt. And that is the point of this showcase—to use inspiration as a tool to master principles of good writing.

Where did you find these texts?

I have gathered these texts over fifteen years of teaching writing in many different disciplines. Most of them I found while developing teaching materials, and others were suggested by students and colleagues.

If I've left out your favorite writer–scientist, please let me know!

How can I learn to write like these authors?

Check out my writing resources page. It's a work in progress, but it should be enough to get you started. You can also organize a writing workshop with me through your department or institution. If you'd like more tailored advice, I'd be glad to offer one-to-one coaching.