Page 185 - English for Writing Research Papers

Chapter 10

Hedging and Criticising

What the experts say

There is no absolute knowledge. And those who claim it, whether they are
scientists or dogmatists, open the door to tragedy. All information is imper-
fect. We have to treat it with humility.
Jacob Bronowski, Polish-born British mathematician
*****
Ways of saying things which make sense against a Japanese background may
either be nonsense or give quite the wrong impression when interpreted
against a Western European one. For instance, if you state a conclusion ten-
tatively or indefinitely, a Japanese reader will understand that this is because

you do not wish to be too blunt or assertive, but a European reader will often
conclude simply that you are not really sure about it.
Professor Tony Leggett, Nobel prize winner in Physics

*****
It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated imme-

diately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material.

James Watson and Francis Crick in their paper proposing the double helical
structure of DNA (Nature 171: 737–738 (1953))

*****
Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respect-
able, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
George Orwell, English writer and critic
*****
Love your neighbor yet pull not down your hedge.
English proverb, cited by Benjamin Franklin, US scientist and statesman

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 169
A. Wallwork, English for Writing Research Papers,
English for Academic Research, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-26094-5_10