A number of essays have recently appeared calling for an improved attitude of scientists towards those with whom they would communicate. One by Raul Camba of the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, is published in Nature for August 3. It states that: "Scientists now speak and write a language alien to most, even to their fellow scientists in other disciplines."
Camba wonders whether the writers realise the consequences of using a language comprehensible to only the few. After all, language is a crucial issue for communicating with the public and other specialists, and although accuracy calls for specialist words it may result in isolating jargon.
Unfortunately, scientific communication overflows with unnecessarily complex terms calculated to alienate all but the tenacious reader who has no specialist knowledge. On the other hand, simple language involving familiar similes enhances the accuracy of communication. Popular science magazines, writes Camba, do good work in spreading the message, but more profound approaches are needed.
In many countries science students are not required to take courses that would enhance their written or oral skills. If communication is to be effective, any well-grounded scientific education should include training on how to write an article or present a lecture. At one time, Latin was taught to open the doors of academic institutions, and permit sound understanding, but today English is the prime language of science, and a thorough acquaintance with it is essential.
Countries where other languages prevail are finding it necessary to face the double challenge of educating students in both science and English, and this puts them at a disadvantage. The belief that anything worth reading must be available in English is, however, mistaken, and more openness in criticising journals in other languages, and fluency in other tongues, must be pursued by scientists who wish to promote better communication of specialised issues.