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Physics and Astronomy Writing

Physics and Astronomy Writing. Physics 695 Some material courtesy of Dr. J. Fabian, Univ. of Regenburg. Reading about Physics Writing P. RUBENS, SCIENCE & TECHNICAL WRITING: MANUAL OF STYLE , 2 nd . Ed, TAYLOR (2001) - Recommended text for Phys 695

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Physics and Astronomy Writing

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  1. Physics and Astronomy Writing Physics 695 Some material courtesy of Dr. J. Fabian, Univ. of Regenburg

  2. Reading about Physics Writing P. RUBENS, SCIENCE & TECHNICAL WRITING: MANUAL OF STYLE, 2nd. Ed, TAYLOR (2001) - Recommended text for Phys 695 M. Alley, The Craft of Scientific Writing, 3rd Ed., Springer, New York, 1996. B. Goss Levi: “Some Simple Rules of Writing” http://www.research.att.com/kbl/APS/dec97/rules.html D. Mermin: “What’s Wrong with This Prose?” Physics Today, May 1989, p.9 D.Mermin: “What‘s Wrong with These Equations?” Physics Today, October1989, p.9 D. Mermin: “Writing Physics” http://www.lassp.cornell.edu/~cew2/KnightLecture.html

  3. Types of Scientific Writing • Academic/Industrial Research • Journal Articles; Conference Proceedings • Research Reports (to sponsor or management) • Funding proposals • Industrial Development/Engineering/QA • Measurement Reports / Engineering Memos • Equipment/software manuals • Funding proposals • Teaching • Books, tutorials • Lab manuals • Exams, Homework, Solutions • Student • Lab Reports; Course Papers; Portfolio; Resume • Theses

  4. Portfolio Requirements • Homework problem solutions • Lab Reports

  5. Components of Physics Writing • Text (including references/bibliography) • Equations • Tables • Plots • Diagrams and other figures • Photos

  6. Paper/Report Organization Reference everything taken from other sources

  7. Equations • Use Microsoft Equation Editor or TeX • Short equations or mathematical expressions can be “in-line”: • so when 2d sin = n • Longer equations centered & numbered: 4.1

  8. Plots Fig. 1. Semi-log plot of current-voltage characteristic of diode.

  9. Plot Features • Caption • Axes clearly labeled with quantity plotted and (units) in parentheses • Symbols at data points, with error bars when possible (no lines connecting points) • If an equation has been fitted to the data, show the line or curve corresponding to fit • Gridlines optional; usually omitted

  10. Detector Laser Scope Generator Sync Main Chan 1 Ext.Trig Diagrams Fig. 2. Electronics Setup.

  11. Tables

  12. Physics Word Processing Alternatives • Microsoft Word (or Open Office) with Equation Editor ($65) • Prior to Word 2007, had “old” equation editor; can purchase MathType enhanced Equation Editor ($50). (Barely) adequate; saves equations as graphic images. • For Microsoft Word 2007, Equation Editor included as is; also includes new equation editor with support for a TeX-like "Office Math Markup Language“. • Scientific Word - Specialized scientific word processor; can save output in TeX form. ($500/$160 student) • TeX (popular versions: LaTeX; MikTex) - Page formatting language; allows precise text & equation formatting (free) • LyX - WYSIWYG “front end” for LaTex; no need to learn TeX commands; produces TeX and PDF output (free)

  13. TeX Alternatives • LaTex • http://www.latex-project.org/ • May want pdflatex • REVTeX 4 • To compile Phys. Rev. Style documents • http://publish.aps.org/revtex4/ • LyX • http://www.lyx.org • Includes RevTeX4 document class; PDF creator

  14. LyX Documentation: Excellent help files, including tutorials and user guides

  15. Plotting Software • MATLAB (SFSU site license; student version $100) • IDL (SFSU site license) • Gnuplot (free) • Origin (student version $50 for one year) • Kaliedagraph; Igor Pro • Excel usually cannot produce publication-quality plots • Save plots as .eps files for placing in LaTeX or LyX document; as .wmf or .jpg files to import into MS Word (use MATLAB export function) • See handout for how to import .eps plots into LyX

  16. Diagram Software (Vector Graphics) • Adobe Illustrator/Freehand (CS3 student $200) • Inkscape (free) • www.inkscape.org • Inkscape and Illustrator can export .eps files for easy import into LaTeX or LyX, as well as several other graphics file formats • For photos: • Photoshop • Paintshop Pro • Gimp (free)

  17. References/Bibliography • BibTeX is a tool for formatting lists of references. BibTeX makes it easy to cite sources in a consistent manner, by separating bibliographic information from the presentation of this information. • Obtaining References • One means of getting references is from Web-based databases, such as ones created with the Reference Web Poster program. • Importing and Exporting References using EndNotes • Launch EndNotes, and load an existing library or start a new one. • Click on [File] [Import] and load "sample.isa" specifying "Reference Manager (RIS)" as the format. • Click on [Style] [Set Styles Folder...] and then open the "Export" folder and choose "BibTeX.ens". • Select the entries that you want to export. • Click on [File] [Export] and save as type "Text File (*.txt)" and save the file as "sample.bib". • Now you can merge "sample.bib" with one of your existing BibTeX database(s).

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