According to the adage, “Travel is broadening”. In other words, when you leave your home and go somewhere else, your mind will expand because of the differences you will see. For me, the most valuable, mind-expanding differences are not the big ones that you might be prep...

If saying that good grammar can spoil good writing sounds like heresy, it was meant to.

When I search the Web for writing tips, all too often the first bit of advice that comes back is "Be sure to use good grammar". But that's putting the cart before the horse....

This is a story about a young man growing up in Los Angeles in the 1950s. He was a bit strange for a Californian of that epoch. He of course loved surfing, but he loved mathematics and physics even more. His dream from a very young age was to go to university and get a sc...

Part 9 of an occasional series

I am a collector of quotations. I have been ever since I learned how to write, I mean professionally, not in primary school.

I am particularly fond of what I like to call "pithy prose". These short quotations can cover a...

It is a widely accepted adage that, "The older you get, the faster time seems to go." But why should aging have this effect? After all, there is the parallel adage that, "Time flies when you are having fun." But as we age, time flies whether we are having fun or not. ...

Growing up in the United States in the 1950s, I was used to such things as inches, feet, yards; ounces (liquid and solid), pints, pounds, etc. Then I entered my first physics class and was bowled over by the metric system.

"My God, this is so much better! Why do...

Part 7 of an occasional series

I am a collector of quotations. I have been ever since I learned how to write, I mean professionally, not in primary school.

I am particularly fond of what I like to call "pithy prose". These short quotations can cover an ...

"Don't write short texts. Write concise ones."

If you are puzzled by this admonition, it is probably because you have been led to believe that "short" and "concise" are synonyms. They aren’t.

My dictionary shows two definitions for "concise":

1...

We live in a cynical age where the values of truth, honesty and integrity seem to be in short supply. We are therefore always looking for examples of such values in action, especially with regard to politicians.

I would like to offer you such an example from Afri...

Part 7 of an occasional series

I am a collector of quotations. I have been ever since I learned how to write, I mean professionally, not in primary school.

I am particularly fond of what I like to call "pithy prose". These short quotations can cover an ...