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Nature 448, 751-752 (16 August 2007) | doi:10.1038/448751a; Published online 15 August 2007

There is a Correction (30 August 2007) associated with this document.

Open Innovation Challenges

The art of persuasion

Steven Shapin1

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Surprisingly, the rhetoric of the literary artist still has a place in persuasive scientific texts.

BOOK REVIEWEDThe Scientific Literature: A Guided Tour

edited by Joseph E. Harmon and Alan G. Gross
University of Chicago Press: 2007. 312 pp. $29.00 (pbk); $72.50 (hbk)

While the term 'scientific literature' is a commonplace usage, few scientists would acknowledge any connection between how they write and the works of novelists or poets. As long ago as the middle of the seventeenth century, the English originators of the scientific journal vigorously set themselves against all forms of fancy writing.