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Asked by chubandchump to Andrew, Ash, Gem, Paige, SJ on 25 Jun 2012.
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Paige Brown answered on 25 Jun 2012:
I suppose spelling is important in everything! But nowadays, it’s easier with spellcheck in all the computer programs we use to write! You can always look up the spelling to words you don’t know… but there are some very hard-to-pronounce and spell words in science! Like paleotempestology… (= the science of ancient hurricanes!)
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Gemma Staite answered on 25 Jun 2012:
In the writing up part of science, I would say that spelling is important. It helps the finished work look professional. In my work, we issue reports to Doctors, I think if the report appears professional (layout, spelling, etc) the Doctor thinks they can trust the results, more than if it didn’t appear professional. The same is true with any piece of writing.
Like Paige says though, it is easy with spell check as computers are used for everything. I often have to look up medical words and bacteria names to check the spelling.
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SarahJayne Boulton answered on 25 Jun 2012:
I am terrible at spelling. Just now, I spelled ‘terrible’ wrong and had to go back and re-write it. When scientists are working at the cutting edge, they have to publish their findings in scientific journals. This lets other scientists working in the same field recreate the experiments and develop to work further. When you’re coming to publish your work, spelling suddenly becomes very important, however my lab book is literally FILLED with spelling mistakes. I use lots of acronyms to make taking notes easier, so you’d probably need a decoder to read it!
Often it’s worst when you’re trying to remember chemical names for example, I use a chemical I call DTSSP, however it’s actually called ‘3,3´-Dithiobis sulfosuccinimidylpropionate’. It’s used for binding proteins to gold.
Another I call NiTSPC, which actually is called ‘nickel tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine’. Its really hard to say too!!
As long as you take your time to correct your mistakes and review your work properly, you can get by in science just fine. I’ve managed and I am literally the WORST.
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