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Sense and sensibility

Nature volume 411, page 243 (2001)Cite this article

Could literature teach us how to release scientific writing from its straitjacket?

This passage from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen has several layers of meaning: it reveals something of the character of Mr Palmer; there is a gentle irony about the nature of newspapers and the reason for reading the newspaper; in its context it encapsulates upper-class England of 1800. It is a rich language that can imply so much in so few words.

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References

  1. Medawar, P. B. Is the Scientific paper a fraud? Listener 70, 12 September 1963. Reprinted in The Threat and the Glory, Reflections on Science and Scientists (ed. Pyke, D.) (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1990).

  2. Popper, K. R. Objective Knowledge, an Evolutionary Approach (revised) (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1979).

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  1. Randall Centre, New Hunt's House, King's College London, Guy's Campus, London, SE1 1UL, UK

    Robert Simmons

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  1. Robert Simmons
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Simmons, R. Sense and sensibility. Nature 411, 243 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35077175

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