Author Archives: Sylvia McLain

About Sylvia McLain

Girl, Interrupting aka Dr. Sylvia McLain used to be an academic, but now is trying to figure out what's next. She is also a proto-science writer, armchair philosopher, amateur plumber and wanna-be film-critic. You can follow her on Twitter @DrSylviaMcLain and Instagram @sylviaellenmclain

‘The death of british science’? Really ?

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Sylvia McLain

I almost don’t feel I can comment -but of course I am going to anyway. Today I watched, or rather half-watched via twitter and other media outlets, the protest about ‘the death of British science’. The protesters, about 100 strong, … Continue reading →

Posted in Death of British Science, science funding | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

To equate or not to equate

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Sylvia McLain

One of our jobs, working in academia, is giving talks. I don’t mean teaching, but rather presenting research. Lately I have had a spate of talks to give, largely as a result of being new in my Department. My research … Continue reading →

Posted in maths, science communication | Tagged , | 3 Comments

On being wrong – or not completely right

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Sylvia McLain

Stephen J Gould is one of my heroes, one of my favourite scientists. One of his best books, in my opinion, is The Mismeasure of Man – which was written in part to challenge the use of IQ tests, phrenology … Continue reading →

Posted in evolution, richard dawkins, Stephen J Gould | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Communication, communication, communication

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Sylvia McLain

Alice Bell wrote a provocative piece in Times Higher Education, ‘Wider open spaces’, where she calls for science communication to be MORE open, rather than just opening access to specialist journals. The open access ‘movement’ (for lack of a better … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, science communication | Tagged , | 27 Comments

Why can’t we write like other people write?

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Sylvia McLain

Another blog about scientific writing appeared on Friday by Adam Ruben. It contains all of the standard complaints, albeit in a humorous way, about why scientific writing is basically dull, turgid and opaque. Adam concludes that: But there’s a reason … Continue reading →

Posted in NMR spectroscopy, science writing | Tagged , | 18 Comments

Received Wisdom – Who do you trust?

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Sylvia McLain

Science met the Media on Tuesday at the Royal Institution. It was an interesting event where science journalism was discussed between scientists and journalists. To me, the discussion was mostly journalists talking to journalists – more than scientists and journalists, … Continue reading →

Posted in science and the media, science communication | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Oxford Dons – Leave the internet alone!

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Sylvia McLain

So we all know the story about Baroness Susan Greenfield and the internet and how she thinks it might be causing autism (among other things) where she famously said: “It could be the case that this different environment is changing … Continue reading →

Posted in Internet, richard dawkins, Susan Greenfield | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Lady liberty: my new glove box

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Sylvia McLain

A few weeks ago I blogged about my new Schlenk Line and now there is a new addition to the lab. My newest piece of BIG kit arrived Monday (unannounced). After a few weeks of tender, at most Universities if … Continue reading →

Posted in science equipment | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Why am I writing this?

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Sylvia McLain

On scientific publication I have been working on some publications, you know those results-based things that scientists write, submit, are peer-reviewed and with a bit of luck get published in a fantastic journal and then with not as much luck … Continue reading →

Posted in Peer review, scientific publishing | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

It’s in my guilt box…

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Sylvia McLain

A variant on the impostor syndrome (as blogged by Athene Donald) A few weeks ago I bumped into one of my colleagues at the University – he is in a different Department and is a young (ish) PI like myself. … Continue reading →

Posted in Impostor syndrome | Tagged , | 14 Comments