Reading assignments, vol. 2

Here go some interesting reads from this week:

Research policy:

• Check out this commentary by AAAS CEO Alan I. Leshner over at the Chronicle of Higher Education. He and Steven J. Fluharty bemoan the increasing cost in money and time of administrative burdens on research labs.
• Also at the Chronicle, Peter Suber (Harvard Open Access Project) and Darius Cuplinskas make the case for open access to research in order to benefit the public and spur innovation.
• At Scientific American, James M. Gentile writes about the persistent gender bias in the sciences. Most troubling is the double-blind study showing that male and female faculty members both rate female job applicants lower than male regardless of content.

Science and the public:

• I like cringe-worthy television science. See Arr Oh points some out over at Just Like Cooking
• Mark at Chemistry-Blog laments over the idiocy of chemophobia when tied with administration.

Science writing:

• Here's a Guardian/Observer column by Ian Tucker with Q&A with some prominent science writers about what makes good science writing. 
• A series of tips from Scientific American blogger Khalil A. Cassimally on how science writers can harness social media to gather information for writing purposes. 
• Matt Shipman encourages researchers to engage in public communication of science, and says funding agencies want them to as well.
• At ERV, some comments/advice on how not to be a horrible pop sci journalist. 

Other:

• On Chemistry Blog, a writeup of a K.C. Nicolaou essay just published online for Angewandte. It's a historical perspective on total synthesis. Although perhaps calling total synthesis the "flagship of chemistry" is an exaggeration.
• Chemjobber puts the fiscal cliff in perspective, and the prospects look poor (don't they always?) for grad students and postdocs.
• Drew, of webcomic Toothpaste for Dinner, issues an important and vital homonuclear warning. He also coauthors Married to the Sea which four years ago published this comic which is taped above my desk at all times. (For those still reading, Drew was previously a chemist and is also hilarious).
• At Just Like Cooking, See Arr Oh points out some scatologically unusual reaction conditions.