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The Craft of Scientific Writing pp 15–35Cite as

Balancing Precision with Clarity

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Abstract

Einstein’s advice to keep the language as simple as possible, yet no simpler, calls for a balance between being precise and being clear.

In scientific writing, keep things as simple as possible, yet no simpler [1].

—Albert Einstein

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References

  1. Albert Einstein, quotation attributed by Hans Byland (1928). Original text: “Schreibe ich zu kurz, so versteht es überhaupt niemand; schreibe ich zu lang, so wird die Sache unübersichtlich.” This quotation has a number of forms and appeared to be an idea, dubbed Einstein’s razor, that Einstein revisited a number of times.

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  2. Mark Twain, attributed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Engineering, Penn State University, University Park, PA, 16803, USA

    Prof. Michael Alley

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  1. Prof. Michael Alley
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Correspondence to Michael Alley .

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Alley, M. (2018). Balancing Precision with Clarity. In: The Craft of Scientific Writing. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8288-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8288-9_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-8287-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-8288-9

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