Dr. Esther Muehlbauer
Queens College, CUNY, Department of Biology
Spring, 2013
COURSE OVERVIEW
CW2: Writing in the Sciences – Human Origins
Humanity has been transcribing ideas since the earliest cave etchings of the Paleolithic, some
forty-thousand years ago. This unique ability to write, interpreting the world symbolically, is a
product of human biological and cultural evolution. As science writers this semester, we build
on an ancient literary legacy – writing about our own evolutionary history. It is in part an
introspective process – understanding the developments that led to our higher mental capacities,
the ability to craft and utilize tools – and ultimately our native ability to write.
In the contemporary world, “writing science” is fundamental to sharing ideas among scientists
and with society, creating the scientific literature. Modern human evolutionary theory itself
originates in the literature, with Charles Darwin’s landmark book, The Descent of Man (1871),
where Darwin establishes humanity’s shared evolutionary history with other life forms – as one
that differs “in degree but not in kind”.
In this writing seminar, we explore human origins through writing adapted to specific audiences.
Our writing perspectives are: 1-scientists writing for themselves (e.g. field and laboratory logs);
2-scientists writing for scientists (e.g. journal articles, abstracts);
3-scientists writing for students (e.g. textbooks, instructional materials); and
4-scientists writing for society (e.g. essays, periodicals, books). To inform our own writing, we
read and discuss Darwin’s original works, and the writings of other eminent evolutionary
theorists, and paleoanthropologists, including Ian Tattersall, Donald C. Johanson, the Leakey
family, Stephen Jay Gould, and Stuart Altmann – all of whom forwarded our understanding of
human origins.
College Writing 2 – Writing in the Sciences, is a second semester, discipline-based writing
seminar that provides students with the opportunity to hone their writing skills within a field of
scientific inquiry. Because lucid writing is essential to communicating science, students will
work on the clear expression of ideas within different genres of scientific literature. In
developing the science writer’s craft, students will also gain techniques applicable to other
academic disciplines – since writing skills have a universal application.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Writing Assignment #1: Scientists Writing for Themselves - A Field Journal (5 – 6 pp.)
As a paleoanthropologist, studying contemporary hunter-gatherer peoples, you are setting out on
a field trip among an indigenous tribe (such as the Kalahari San or Australian Aborigines).
Select an indigenous people to research, documenting their activities and native lifestyle, and
recording this information as three or four entries in a journal log. There are many short online
films of indigenous peoples that may help you to visualize their native environment and
interactions. Darwin’s Journal of Researches can serve as a model for a field journal. The
journal entries, while intended primarily for your own use as a scientist, should be written in
standard English.
Learning goals: Development of descriptive language, concise phrasing, and accurate recording
of information
Readings:
Darwin, Journal of Researches
Turnbull, The Forest People – A Study of the Pygmies of the Congo
Gould, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory
Informal writing assignments: Brief descriptions of place; stream-of-consciousness writing.
Writing Assignment #2: Scientists Writing for Scientists – A “Perspectives” Article for the
Journal Science. (5 – 6 pp.)
As a biologist with research interests on human origins, you are writing an article for the
“Perspectives” section in the journal Science. Your topic is recent developments in human
ancestry. Your discussion may revolve around the placement of Australopithecus sediba, or
Ardipithecus ramidus (“Ardi”) in the family tree, or DNA analyses that indicate the presence of
Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA in modern humans. A ‘Perspectives” article explores and
evaluates the recent literature from the perspective of the writer, and provides a list of references.
Learning Goals: Researching a topic from multiple sources; comparing perspectives; developing
a scientific “voice”; clarity in expression of ideas; appropriately citing sources
Readings:
Science, Dec. 2011, Perspectives.
Tattersall and Schwartz, Extinct Humans.
Darwin, The Descent of Man
Jolly, “The Evolution of Primate Behavior”, from Readings in American Scientist
Gould, The Mismeasure of Man
Johanson, From Lucy to Language
Informal Writing Assignments: Brief summaries of individual research sources, evaluative
responses to readings
Writing Assignment #3: Scientists Writing for Students – Textbook Passage on Cultural
Evolution (6 - 8 pp.)
You have been asked to write a chapter section for a college evolution textbook on the advent of
“Cultural Evolution”. The primary goal is to provide an overview of research on this topic, and
present the material in a logical sequence, organized under several subheadings. Your starting
point should be a definition of culture, which should address the important question, of whether
culture is just a human phenomenon. Since this is an instructional writing piece, scientific
terminology should be given special attention (e.g. bold type, and definitions provided in
parentheses when terms are introduced).
Learning Goals: Developing skill in instructional writing, clear organization of topics within a
broader work, appropriately introducing and defining scientific terminology, properly citing
references
Readings:
Dobzhansky et.al., Evolution
Goldsmith and Zimmerman, Biology, Evolution and Human Nature
McKee, Jeffrey K. et.al., Understanding Human Evolution
Tattersall and Schwartz, Extinct Humans
Informal Writing Assignments: Chapter summary, sketch of important ideas
Writing Assignment #4: Scientists Writing for Society – A Socratic Dialogue on
Evolutionary Themes (5 – 7 pp.)
“Natural History”, the magazine of the American Museum of Natural History, has
commissioned you to write a creatively-formatted essay on human evolution in the form of a
Socratic dialogue. The “Socratic dialogue” is a teaching technique where an individual is guided
through a series of sequential questions on a particular topic, and by responding thoughtfully, the
individual gains insights into the topic.
Your task is to brainstorm a topic on human origins for discussion, and then to select two
characters who will engage in the discussion The dialogue should be formatted as a script, where
one character (Socrates/ the questioner) asks probing questions of a second character (Socrates’
student/ the responder). You may select any topic relating to human or primate biological/
cultural evolution. Stuart A. Altmann’s essay, “The Monkey and the Fig”, may be used as a
model for this assignment. The premise in Altman’s dialogue is that by analyzing a simple
primate behavior, like monkeys eating figs, one can learn much about primate evolution.
Learning Goals: Develop creative writing methods to convey scientific information to nonscientist audiences; honing techniques for “readability” for a general audience
Readings:
Gould,, The Mismeasure of Man
Gould, The Panda’s Thumb
Altmann, “The Monkey and the Fig – A Socratic Dialogue on Evolutionary Themes”
Jolly, “The Evolution of Primate Behavior”
Informal Writing Assignments: Brain-storming ideas that can be creatively formatted to impart
evolutionary concepts; free-writing on possible topics; drafting alternative opening/closing
passages.