MLAP 31500
Natural Sciences Elective
Spring Quarter 2013
Writing Assignment II
Due June 11, 2013
Investigate
a subject related to the content of this course and write a paper on the
results of your investigation. The
subject might be a related field of inquiry, a further inquiry into a subject
described in Does God Play Dice? The New
Mathematics of Chaos, in The Essence
of Chaos, or in Chaos: Making a New
Science, a relevant discovery, or some other related matter. The paper should be relatively brief; a
length of the order of 1500-2500 words would be a reasonable target. (That would be about 3-5 pages,
single-spaced, in a 12 pt Times font.)
The paper and the underlying investigation should have a definite goal
that can be formulated in terms of a well-defined question or issue. The paper should work toward the chosen
goal with a suitable analysis or inquiry.
The goal itself is the answer or conclusion that results. The paper should make clear and
explicit the connection of the subject investigated to the subjects of the
course. The paper should include a
bibliography of the publications on which it is based and a summary of any
other resources that are used.
Papers
will be evaluated with respect to the following five equally weighted
categories.
FORMULATION
OF THE TOPIC. The paper should
address a well-defined issue, question, or problem.
CONNECTION
TO THE COURSE. The topic should
have a reasonable connection to some aspect of the material covered in the course.
RESEARCH. The paper should be based on some line
of investigation or inquiry beyond what is covered in the course. This would be reflected in the
bibliography.
ANALYSIS. The paper should contain some analysis
of the issue, question, or problem considered.
FORMULATION
OF CONCLUSIONS. The paper should
reach definite conclusions or closure of another appropriate kind.
Writers
are urged to observe the following guidelines.
Be
technically precise in applications of scientific nomenclature, particularly
the nomenclature of chaos. Avoid
the use of metaphors in connection with chaos.
Organize
the paper around the five categories on which it will be evaluated. The paper should progress from the
formulation of the central issue to the resolution of that issue.
Write
for an informed lay person.
Nomenclature that has become familiar through our reading of Stewart,
Lorenz, and Gleick may be used without definitions or explanations. On the other hand, technical terms that
would be unfamiliar by that standard should be defined or explained.
In
general, the work for this paper would not be an original piece of scientific
research. The paper is a review of
a subject or of an aspect of the subject.
Avoid a broad, superficial review of the chosen subject. It is better to concentrate on a
substantial treatment of particular aspects.
Experience
shows that the subjects of the most successful papers are generally chosen from
the natural sciences, the more systematic of the social sciences and fields of
application of those disciplines.
Writers
are expected to observe accepted academic standards for scholarly writing.
The
text of a paper should be the writerÕs own work.
A
typical paper will include reviews, summaries, or descriptions of work
described in the writings of other authors. The sources of such material should be properly identified
and referenced in the body of the paper and listed in the bibliography. Writers may use any standard convention
for referencing sources in the text and for listing references in the
bibliography. Listings in the
bibliography should, of course, contain enough information to enable the reader
to identify and locate the source.
It
is appropriate to quote text from the writings of other authors where direct
quotations are required for the sake of clarity and precision. Direct quotes should be brief, and the
use of direct quotes should be infrequent. Quoted text should be set off with quotation marks. The sources of quoted text should
be properly identified and referenced in the body of the paper and included in
the bibliography. Here too, any
standard convention and format for the presentation of quoted material may be
used.
Sources
on the Web should be identified and referenced in the body of the paper and
listed in the bibliography as if they were publications. Any standard bibliographical convention
for sources on the Web may be used.
In any case, each listing should include authors, a date, a title, and a
URL.
LINKS:
Return to Course Page: mla315spring2013.html
Return to Peter Vandervoort's Home Page: pov.html
Go to the home page of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
of the University of Chicago: http://astro.uchicago.edu/