It's Like Not Wearing Your Cleats in the House

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Carl Zimmer, one of my favorite science writers, recently posted about three new books aimed at scientists: Unscientific America, Am I Making Myself Clear?, and Don't Be Such a Scientist. All three are aimed squarely at the biggest problem modern science faces—the inability of most scientists to explain themselves to non-specialists—and all three are now on my read-soon list. I don't think communication skills will ever be part of this course, but given the problems our planet faces, they damn well need to be part of every scientist's education.