colin dellow's bln

...for requiring 4 mandatory natural science courses in an undergraduate engineering curriculum.

I'm all for science, but it seems that scientists can't write textbooks for shit.

Example:

"We become aware of the importance of rivers in human history and economy as we name the major ones: Nile, Danube, Tigris, Euphrates, Yukon, Indus, Tiber, Mekong, Ganges, Rhine, Mississippi, Missouri, Yangtze-Kiang, Amazon, Seine, Zaire, Volga, Thames, Rio Grande. The names of these rivers, and many others great and small, ring with a thousand images of history, geography and poetry. The importance of rivers to human history, ecology, and economy is inestimable. However, river ecology has lagged behind the ecological study of lakes and oceans and is one of the youngest of the many branches of aquatic ecology. In the past couple of decades, however, river ecology has, as all youthful sciences do, exploded with published research, competing theories, controversies, and international symposia and now claims a well-earned place beside its more mature cousins."

M. Molles, Ecology: Concepts and Applications, 3rd Ed.

Just in case you couldn't make it through that paragraph, here's a summary:

# of commas: 31
# of rivers painstakingly listed by name: 19. Nineteen.
# of times you are told rivers are important: 2
# of references to international drinking parties: 1

"The names of these rivers, and many others great and small, ring with a thousand images of history, geography and poetry." What right does that sentence have to exist at all, much less exist in a textbook?

"In the past couple of decades, however, river ecology has, as all youthful sciences do, exploded with published research, competing theories, controversies, and international symposia and now claims a well-earned place beside its more mature cousins." Durrrhh... science causes debate! Ironically, the conclusion to the paragraph is the only thing that's textbook material - and then only as an example of how to pad out your word count by saying nothing meaningful with lots of words.

Even though it tries to be lyrical and full of imagery, the paragraph isn't very engaging to read. Let's rewrite it the way one would expect an expository paragraph in an engineering textbook to read:

"Rivers are important. River ecology is also important. However, as a relatively young branch of ecology, it's full of theories that no-one agrees about."

Much less painful -- and only 2 commas!