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Text of the page (random words):
w reddit share on threads opens in new window threads share on whatsapp opens in new window whatsapp share on mastodon opens in new window mastodon share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky more share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print like loading this entry was posted in books scientific writing and tagged writing on august 4 2026 by scientistseessquirrel the foolishness of doing more with less 9 replies i got a little bit riled up the other day and i realized that it might be worth sharing because the thing that riled me is a longstanding pattern in academia at least in canada anyway it s a way i think we sabotage ourselves and we really ought to stop it s our instinct to react to budget cuts by professing that we ll adapt by doing more with less my institution i guess i still think of it as my institution despite having retired has been through a long run of budget cuts most years small but repeated every year for a couple of decades continue reading share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on threads opens in new window threads share on whatsapp opens in new window whatsapp share on mastodon opens in new window mastodon share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky more share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print like loading this entry was posted in academia and tagged rants universities on july 28 2026 by scientistseessquirrel wonderful latin names zupaysaurus rougierei 3 replies i ve been neglecting one of my favourite hobbyhorses lately that s right it s been nearly six months since i ve bothered you about a really wonderful latin name that ends today because i ve recently managed to acquire the new and utterly gorgeous 3 volume princeton encyclopedia of dinosaurs the three volumes are for therapods for sauropods and for ornithischians i m rather proud that i spelled two of those three correctly on my first try dipping into the encyclopedia i ve been meeting all kinds of dinosaur latin names sure enough some of them are wonderful like for example zupaysaurus rougierei zupaysaurus rougierei was a mid sized theropod theropods were the scary tyrannosaurus style kind of dinosaur that lived in the triassic about 210 million years ago continue reading share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on threads opens in new window threads share on whatsapp opens in new window whatsapp share on mastodon opens in new window mastodon share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky more share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print like loading this entry was posted in etymology latin names and tagged dinosaurs scientific names on july 21 2026 by scientistseessquirrel on humour in scientific talks and how to use your privilege 8 replies a few months ago i got to read one of the most entertaining scientific papers i ve seen in a while it s a study by stefano mammola and colleagues that documents patterns in the use of jokes in scientific talks in particular talks at conferences you can read the paper here statistically significant chuckles who is using humour at scientific conferences the paper has an attention grabbing and subject appropriate opening here s the first sentence of the introduction continue reading share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on threads opens in new window threads share on whatsapp opens in new window whatsapp share on mastodon opens in new window mastodon share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky more share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print like loading this entry was posted in conferences humour speaking and tagged talks on july 14 2026 by scientistseessquirrel your base for mentoring scientific writers 1 reply note this is a jointly written post with bethann garramon merkle but it shifts a bunch from i to we and back again and i think you ll see why apologies for the viewpoint tangling i had an interesting chat with a colleague a while back in which he described a common complaint among faculty members in his professional circles faculty he said receive draft manuscripts from their students realize the drafts aren t in great shape realize it would take them hours and hours to make the drafts better and in any case they aren t sure how to do that and so they give up on the drafts and at least implicitly on the students hearing this made me sad but it didn t really shock me because as hard as writing is mentoring or teaching writing is harder continue reading share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on threads opens in new window threads share on whatsapp opens in new window whatsapp share on mastodon opens in new window mastodon share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky more share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print like loading this entry was posted in graduate training mentorship scientific writing teaching and tagged writing on july 7 2026 by scientistseessquirrel it s not enough to make a paper exist 5 replies there are many things i was wrong about early in my career when i posted just recently about my discomfort with done is better than perfect advice it reminded me of one of those things for at least the first half of my career i thought about papers as simply needing to join the scientific literature my job as i conceived it was to make a paper good enough to pass peer review so that it could be published by a journal and thus be available to those who wanted or needed to read it once it was there available on library shelves or more recently in online search results my job was done this is what i d call a pull view of the scientific literature continue reading share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on threads opens in new window threads share on whatsapp opens in new window whatsapp share on mastodon opens in new window mastodon share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky more share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print like loading this entry was posted in journals publishing scientific writing and tagged writing on june 30 2026 by scientistseessquirrel stop buying my book because the third edition is nearly out 1 reply for some reason people are buying my book and i wish they d stop at least for a while this one i mean the scientist s guide to writing i ve written two others and if you d like to buy one of those go right ahead charles darwin s barnacle and david bowie s spider is more fun than you ve ever had with taxonomy in your whole entire life diana gabaldon said and if that seems like a low bar well you don t know the treats in store for you and teaching and mentoring writers in the sciences is the book that if you teach writing or mentor writers which virtually all of us do will help you mentor better and as a bonus save you so much time you ll be able to read charles darwin s barnacle anyway back to the scientist s guide to writing continue reading share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on threads opens in new window threads share on whatsapp opens in new window whatsapp share on mastodon opens in new window mastodon share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky more share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print like loading this entry was posted in books scientific writing and tagged writing on june 23 2026 by scientistseessquirrel things i ve made that are beautiful 1 reply warning slightly treacly there s a children s picture book i love barbara cooney s miss rumphius i wrote about it some years ago at more length but for today s post all you need to know is that miss rumphius begins as the story of a little girl hearing her grandfather s stories and telling him that one day she too will visit faraway places and that she too will live by the sea that is all very well little alice her grandfather replies but there is a third thing you must do you must do something to make the world more beautiful i ve lived by the sea and i ve visited faraway places but what about doing something to make the world more beautiful continue reading share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on threads opens in new window threads share on whatsapp opens in new window whatsapp share on mastodon opens in new window mastodon share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky more share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print like loading this entry was posted in career advice mentorship and tagged beauty on june 16 2026 by scientistseessquirrel the excellent writing advice that i can t quite get behind 12 replies there s a piece of writing advice that i run across a lot i ve even given it it s excellent advice except that it isn t which doesn t make much sense even to me so i m going to try to unpack it a little the advice it comes in various forms usually along the lines of done is better than perfect or the worst thing you finish will always be better than the best thing you didn t i saw the latter form most recently on bluesky from the novelist paolo bacigalupi and at some level it s obviously true it s especially true for scientific writing there s no point even doing science if the results sit in a binder or a digital folder and don t get published for others to read and build on my problem with done is better than perfect and its kin is that the sentiment can be an invitation to be sloppy to rush to not care about your reader continue reading share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on threads opens in new window threads share on whatsapp opens in new window whatsapp share on mastodon opens in new window mastodon share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky more share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print like loading this entry was posted in scientific writing and tagged writing on june 9 2026 by scientistseessquirrel the sagrada familia and good science i don t like 6 replies a few weeks ago i was on vacation in barcelona spain one of barcelona s most famous attractions is its enormous church the basilica de la sagrada familia holy family basilica designed by catalan architect antoni gaudí 1852 1926 and under continuous construction since 1882 it s an astonishing building fascinating visionary unique mind bending and i didn t like it ok that s maybe a bit strong there were details i liked very much for example in the nave the play of light through the stained glass and the arches above the main pillars and on the exterior the striking art nouveau sculptures of the passion façade the work primarily not of gaudí but of josep maria subirachs but overall as a building the sagrada doesn t please me it somehow manages to be both soaring and squat it s lumpy it s too big for its site it s busy with decorations that are individually interesting but that don t cohere this made me think about science continue reading share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on threads opens in new window threads share on whatsapp opens in new window whatsapp share on mastodon opens in new window mastodon share on bluesky opens in new window bluesky more share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print like loading this entry was posted in grants peer review and tagged architecture bacteria fungi ornithology physiology on june 2 2026 by scientistseessquirrel post navigation older posts search for follow scientist sees squirrel on wordpress com email address follow scientist sees squirrel via e mail recent posts it s publication day the scientist s guide to writing 3rd edition the foolishness of doing more with less wonderful latin names zupaysaurus rougierei on humour in scientific talks and how to use your privilege archives august 2026 july 2026 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