Patrick Jones                                                               Approximately 250 words

pwj2@geneseo.edu

INTD 105-19

Two Factors of Public-Facing Science Writing

There are two factors that make a piece of public-facing science writing good, and “Why a goat may stare at you with puppy dog eyes” by Nsikan Akpan is a great example of these two factors. Firstly, a good piece of public-facing science writing has to build integrity and data without losing the readers. Science writing can often get confusing and complicated due to the need to introduce multiple sources and figures, but most of the public doesn’t have the background knowledge or patience to read through paragraphs of numbers and results. Akpan does a great job of integrating important facts and figures without getting too confusing. For example, Akpan wrote, “The farm animals typically made eye contact within 20 seconds when the researchers faced forward, but then waited six times as long when the researchers had their backs turned.” Within this one line Akpan was able to share the results of the experiment without losing the attention of the reader. The second factor is the information must affect or interest a large group the public. For example, Akpan uses a quote by Narworth that says, “We are interested in the exact purpose of this human-directed behavior, for instance, if they use it as a direct request for help from humans,” which connects the experiment to a large group of animal loving readers by allowing the reader to think about how this information could change the relationship between humans and domesticated animals. By incorporating these two factors, Akpan’s piece qualifies as a good example of public-facing science writing.