Chapter 20 Writing for the Public
在这一章，作者介绍了一个面向大众读者的科学写作的套路。
首先，需要明确的是大众读者更关心应用价值，或者和日常生活的联系，所以绝不能仅仅就科学而论科学。下图展示了面向大众读者的科学写作最终应落在“应用”这一点上，我认为“应用”可以宽泛地理解为与日常生活的联系。
面向大众读者的写作有几个原则：
1. 必须是一个简单的故事；
2. 需要有明确的落脚点：比如有什么应用的价值？和日常生活的联系在哪里？
3. 要有清晰的故事结构；
4. 语言要简单：不能用行话，不用或者少用技术词汇；
5. 关于方法和研究的过程部分，要写出研究人员面对困难时的困惑，以及最终如何一步步的解决困难，如何获得结果，并走到最终的落脚点，结论，或者应用的可能。
通过援引Escaping the Ivory Tower: A Guide to Making Your Science Matter (Island Press, 2010)这本书，作者介绍了Message box这样一种套路：
A: 宏观的问题，比如癌症治疗；
B: 听众是谁？爸妈，朋友？
1. Problem: 具体的科学问题；
2. So what: 为什么这个具体的科学问题重要？
3. Solution: 提供回答问题的解决策略；
4. Benefits: 该策略对于回答具体科学问题有何帮助？对于回答宏观的问题有何帮助？
试看一下作者如何描述一项研究基因网络调控细胞生长的研究：
按照上述结构分析该故事的每个构成部分为：
A. Issue: curing cancer.
B. Audience: your aunt specifically, and the public more generally.
1. Problem: we don’t understand the complex cascade of genetic interactions that cause normal cells to “go bad” and start growing out of control.
2. So what? The switch from normal to out-of-control growth is the critical step in developing cancer.
3. Solutions: we need to understand the genetic interactions that cause this switch so we can prevent or reverse it. To study these interactions,we need a model system. Zebrafish turn out to be a surprisingly good system because they are easy to grow, their genetics are easy to work on, and they function similarly to humans.
4. Benefits: figuring out the genetic interactions that cause normal cells to become cancer cells may allow us to develop treatments that would prevent or treat cancer.
分析完成之后，再用简单的日常化语言呈现出来：
Gene Cascades in Zebrafish
Cancer is what happens when normal cells start growing and dividing out of control. If we want to prevent cancer, we need to know what causes that switch — why do “good cells go bad?” My research targets that question — I study how genes interact with each other to keep cells working and growing at the “right rate,” and how those interactions break down, turning normal cells into cancer cells. I work on zebrafish because their genes behave similarly to those of people — and you can’t grow people in an aquarium. If we learn what causes growth regulation to break down, we may be able to prevent or reverse it. So, yes, I hope that my work will ultimately contribute to curing cancer.
你能否用这个框架写出一个向爸妈介绍自己工作的小故事呢？
