WS 1152 Spring 2008

I was bored reading the first two intros (science+nature/science) but I thought the Tech intro was pretty interesting. It went more in depth into why we should still be reading books on technology when a lot of the info can be found online (group communication vs. scholarly articles). I'm looking forward to reading the tech ones simply because the intro was better, even though science tends to interest me more.

After reading all three introductions, it is apparent that all of the writers are trying to reach the average audience. Their goal is to make science and technology easy for everyone to understand. I personally preferred the introduction by Preston because it contained subject matters that I could relate to.

I think the books are going to be interesting after reading the introductions. They sound like they have well written stories in them that other writters liked well enough to put them into a "Best of" book so they should be entertaining.

I thought that the Introductions were well-written and completely served their purpose. They provided concise, descriptive advisories of what to expect in the coming sections, and what the overall purpose of the collaboration was. These books are to serve as a model for writing about science and technology, and the editor effectively describes his reasons for both editting the book and his reasons for adding certain essays.

I thought that the introductions were all well written, but also kind of dry at times. Folger and Kolata seemed to try to get you excited about articles in the book, but was too brief. They tried to talk about too much with very few words. Levy kept me interested mostly because of his dry sense of humor.

I thought the introduction of "The Best of Technology Writing" was very interesting. The editor, Steven Levy, did a good job telling the reader the different views of technology. He showed how technology was viewed in the 1980's and how different it is from today's views. The introduction of "The Best American Science Writing" was interesting. From the intro, it seems that it will be an interesting book. The editor gave the impression that the stories in the book were selected very carefully. I thought the last book was a little boring but it served its purpose.

I thought the introduction of "The Best of Technology Writing" was very interesting. The editor, Steven Levy, did a good job telling the reader the different views of technology. He showed how technology was viewed in the 1980's and how different it is from today's views. The introduction of "The Best American Science Writing" was interesting. From the intro, it seems that it will be an interesting book. The editor gave the impression that the stories in the book were selected very carefully. I thought the last book was a little boring but it served its purpose.

I thought the introduction of "The Best of Technology Writing" was very interesting. The editor, Steven Levy, did a good job telling the reader the different views of technology. He showed how technology was viewed in the 1980's and how different it is from today's views. The introduction of "The Best American Science Writing" was interesting. From the intro, it seems that it will be an interesting book. The editor gave the impression that the stories in the book were selected very carefully. I thought the last book was a little boring but it served its purpose.

I like reading all three introductions. I think all of them are well written and give the reader an expectation for the entire book. I liked how S. Levy compared how technology writing changed between 1980's and present. Kolata's intro also grasped my attention. She made it so interesting to read that I am looking forward to reading the actual articles. The "Grease Spot" was even evident in the intro - which is very impressive to me.

Levy's introduction did not bore me because he tried to make jokes throughout his writing. I am looking forward to reading that book. I didn't feel the same way about the other too books. The other two others had a somewhat dull writing format in my opinion. I would also agree that their writing was dry. But I'm sure it could get better, seeing as this was just the introduction.

Levy's introduction did not bore me because he tried to make jokes throughout his writing. I am looking forward to reading that book. I didn't feel the same way about the other too books. The other two others had a somewhat dull writing format in my opinion. I would also agree that their writing was dry. But I'm sure it could get better, seeing as this was just the introduction.

I enjoyed the three introductions, as they all gave an idea as to why and how the authors became interested in scientific writing. My favorite was Levy's introduction because of his past career stories and how they tied into technology today. The other two introductions touched on many scientific articles and topics that fascinated the authors and also sounded interesting to me. I hope to read about some of them in the following chapters.

The three introductions all served their purposes: after reading them, my appetite was wet to read technology articles. I particularly enjoyed Levy's introduction to "The Best of Technology Writing" for its historical context. It really makes one appreciate how far technology has come to look back a couple decades, and Levy's flashbacks to his days as a budding technology writer served that purpose in his introduction. It was also very exciting to think about the days when computer technology was a small industry, and modern-day corporate juggernauts such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were still entertaining guests and eating strange foods. The sub-introduction of "The Best American Science and Nature Writing" by Tim Folger interested me for the same reason as Levy's intro. Folger takes the history even further back, harking to the first days of quantum physics and the then-unimaginable repercussions the research of the early 20th century has had on modern-day society. The introductions by Richard Preston and Gina Kolata served to further my understanding and appreciation of the art of science, nature, and technology writing.