16.The scientific prose style

The language of science is governed by the aim of the functional style of scientific prose, which is to prove a hypothesis, to create new concepts, to disclose the internal laws of existence, develop­ment, relations between different phenomena, etc. The language means used, therefore, tend to be objective, precise, and unemotional, devoid of any individuality; therefore is a striving for the most generalized form of expression. The first and most noticeable feature of this style is the lо g i с a I sequence of utterances with clear indication of their interrelations and interdependence. It will not be an exaggeration to say that in no other functional style do we find such a developed and varied system of connectives as in scientific prose.

A second and no less important feature, and perhaps the most con­spicuous, is the use of terms specific to each given branch of science. It will be wise to state in passing that due to the rapid dis­semination of scientific and technical ideas, particularly in what are called the exact sciences, we may observe the process of "de-terminization", that is, some scientific and technical terms begin to circulate outside the narrow field they belong to and eventually begin to develop new mean­ings. But the overwhelming majority of terms do not undergo this process of de-terminization and remain the property of scientific prose. A third characteristic feature of scientific style is what we may call sentence-patterns. A hypoth­esis, a scientific conjecture or a forecast must be based on facts already known, on facts systematized and defined. Therefore, every piece of sci­entific prose will begin with postulatory pronouncements which are ta­ken as self-evident and needing no proof. A reference to these facts is only preliminary to the exposition of the writer's ideas and is therefore summed up in precisely formulated statements accompanied, if considered necessary, by references to sources. The writer's own ideas are also shaped in formulae, which are the enunciation of a doctrine or theory, of a principle, an argument, the re­sult of an investigation, etc. The definition sentence-pattern in a sci­entific utterance, that is, the sentence which sums up the argument, is generally a kind of clincher sentence. A fourth observable feature of the style of modern scientific prose, and one that strikes the eye of the reader, is the use of q u о t at ions and references. These sometimes occupy as much as half, a page. The references also have a definite compositional pattern, namely, the name of the writer referred to, the title of the work quoted, the publishing house, the place and year it was published, and the page of the excerpt quoted or referred to. The impersonality of scientific writings can also be considered a typical feature of this style. This quality is mainly revealed in the fre­quent use of passive constructions. The characteristic features enumerated above do not cover all the peculiarities of scientific prose, but they are the most essential ones.