Symposium to help make words matter

Postponed after the February 1 shuttle tragedy, the Words Matter Science Writing Symposium will now take place on Monday, April 7, at 4 p.m. in Baxter Lecture Hall.

The free public symposium is especially intended for Caltech juniors who are writing science papers aimed at laypeople, and is a component of the Words Matter project, whose goal is to foster a culture of literacy at Caltech, cultivate students’ interest in writing, and enhance their writing skills.

Panelists for the event will be science writer, essayist, and novelist Alan Lightman, a Caltech alum (PhD 1974); Los Angeles Times science reporter Usha McFarling; and Caltech vice provost and professor David Goodstein, who has written on science and society. Freelance author Russ Rymer, a former Caltech science writing instructor, will serve as moderator. The panelists will describe their work, discuss the challenges of communicating science and technology to nonspecialists, and answer audience questions.

Lightman will also serve the Words Matter program as Caltech’s writer-in-residence from April 7 through 10. The author of the novels Einstein’s Dreams, Good Benito, The Diagnosis, and the forthcoming Reunion (July 2003), he is an adjunct professor of humanities at MIT and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Words Matter is coordinated by Steven Youra, director of the Hixon Writing Center. As he explains, “The Science Writing Symposium will help our students understand how to communicate complex technical information to broad audiences. This symposium and other Words Matter events will raise students’ awareness and appreciation of good writing by creating opportunities to engage with a range of accomplished authors from the realms of literature and the arts, as well as the sciences.”
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