--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For ten years, I wrote regular columns…" description: "\"For ten years, I wrote regular columns about science for women's magazines, and to my knowledge I'm the only person in the world who can say that. This..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/040/margaret-wertheim-23555_academic_for-ten-years-i-wrote-regular-columns-ab_2205131.jpg" --- # For ten years, I wrote regular columns about science for… ![“For ten years, I wrote regular columns about science for women's magazines, and to my knowledge I'm the only person in the world who can say that. This has no kudos in either the science-writing world or the academic world, but it's one of the most challenging things I've ever done. It's much…” quote by Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/040/margaret-wertheim-23555_academic_for-ten-years-i-wrote-regular-columns-ab_2205131.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/040/margaret-wertheim-23555_academic_for-ten-years-i-wrote-regular-columns-ab_2205131.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/040/margaret-wertheim-23555_academic_for-ten-years-i-wrote-regular-columns-ab_2205131.jpg) > “For ten years, I wrote regular columns about science for women's magazines, and to my knowledge I'm the only person in the world who can say that. This has no kudos in either the science-writing world or the academic world, but it's one of the most challenging things I've ever done. It's much harder to write about cosmology for a magazine like Vogue than for the New York Times, which I've also written for, because you have to imagine that on the page opposite there'll be an advertisement for eyeliner, or an article about the latest trends in skirt length.” [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing scientific articles for fashion magazines demands translating complex ideas into accessible, appealing language, a challenging but rewarding task **In simple terms:** Science must be made understandable for diverse audiences Key Takeaway Embrace interdisciplinary communication Themes science communication gender media Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - magazine journalism - academic publishing - popular science outreach Key Concepts public engagement interdisciplinary writing women in STEM Questions to Reflect On - How can scientists maintain rigor while being engaging? - What strategies help bridge gaps between fields? A Different Perspective Balancing accuracy with audience interest can dilute scientific nuance ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Academic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) [Challenges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/challenges/) [Columns Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/columns-science-4860250/) [Cosmology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmology/) [Cosmology Magazine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmology-magazine-4860249/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Imagine that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine-that/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-writing-1483034/) [Ten years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ten-years/) [Vogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vogue/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Write Cosmology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-cosmology-4860248/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [York Times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/york-times/) ## Related quotes > [I don't know of any science writing going on in women's magazines, unless you count medical stories about things like breast cancer. I still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/i-don-t-know-of-any-science-writing-going-on-in-women-s-magazines/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Over the last 25 years, since a lot of science writing became accessible to layman, I've become quite a consumer of science. As a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-noble/over-the-last-25-years-since-a-lot-of-science-writing-became/) [John Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-noble/) > [“Ikatlah ilmu dengan menuliskannya (Tie science by writing)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-bin-abi-thalib-r-a/ikatlah-ilmu-dengan-menuliskannya-tie-science-by-writing/) [Ali bin Abi Thalib r.a](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-bin-abi-thalib-r-a/) > [The difference between screwing around and science is writing it down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-savage/the-difference-between-screwing-around-and-science-is-writing-it-down/) [Adam Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-savage/) > [“And as you are about to see, it not only produces the best science, but also some of the very best science writing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/and-as-you-are-about-to-see-it-not-only-produces-the-best-science-but/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Astronomy, as nothing else can do, teaches men humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/astronomy-as-nothing-else-can-do-teaches-men-humility/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [There may be an art to conversation, and some are better at it than others, but conversation's virtue lies in randomness and possibility: people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/there-may-be-an-art-to-conversation-and-some-are-better-at-it-than/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [“It is irrelevant whether or not there are other forms of life in the Galaxy or in other galaxies. The fact that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamal-nazrul-islam/it-is-irrelevant-whether-or-not-there-are-other-forms-of-life-in-the/) [Jamal Nazrul Islam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamal-nazrul-islam/) > [Over a period of years he collected thousands of discples. Many became his students. Many didn't become his students but whenever he was in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/over-a-period-of-years-he-collected-thousands-of-discples-many-became/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-live-on-a-hunk-of-rock-and-metal-that-circles-a-humdrum-star-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The Buddha gave his first talks, and three or four ascetics became his first disciples. They recognized his enlightenment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-buddha-gave-his-first-talks-and-three-or-four-ascetics-became-his/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I've always been fascinated by physics and cosmology. It gets more and more scary the older you get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-banville/i-ve-always-been-fascinated-by-physics-and-cosmology-it-gets-more-and/) [John Banville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-banville/) > [An observer situated in a nebula and moving with the nebula will observe the same properties of the universe as any other similarly situated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-bondi/an-observer-situated-in-a-nebula-and-moving-with-the-nebula-will/) [Hermann Bondi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-bondi/) > [Natural history is not taught in seminary. This is curious, as most people in pastoral ministry are about 567 times more likely to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-maitland/natural-history-is-not-taught-in-seminary-this-is-curious-as-most/) [Sara Maitland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-maitland/) ## More by Margaret Wertheim > [When you're in a room with twenty people who've all got the True Theory of the universe, it's difficult to know what to do.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/when-you-re-in-a-room-with-twenty-people-who-ve-all-got-the-true/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Wave particle duality is a core feature of our world. Or rather, we should say, it is a core feature of our mathematical descriptions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/wave-particle-duality-is-a-core-feature-of-our-world-or-rather-we/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Computers are very powerful tools, but in the simulated world of the computer, everything has to be calculated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/computers-are-very-powerful-tools-but-in-the-simulated-world-of-the/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Nature doesn't feel compelled to stick to a mathematically precise algorithm; in fact, nature probably can't stick to an algorithm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/nature-doesn-t-feel-compelled-to-stick-to-a-mathematically-precise/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [If I could do anything in my life and be remembered for anything, I would like to be remembered for helping the world see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/if-i-could-do-anything-in-my-life-and-be-remembered-for-anything-i/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [One way to think about a pure hyperbolic surface is that it's the geometric opposite of a sphere. If you look at a sphere,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/one-way-to-think-about-a-pure-hyperbolic-surface-is-that-it-s-the/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Female physicists, astronomers and mathematicians are up against more than 2,000 years of convention that has long portrayed these fields as inherently male.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/female-physicists-astronomers-and-mathematicians-are-up-against-more/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [This is what I call the "cosmological problem" of science. Science has the instrumental function that has given us computers and so on, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/this-is-what-i-call-the-cosmological-problem-of-science-science-has/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [When I was a physics major in the late 1970s, my very few fellow female students and I had high hopes that women would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/when-i-was-a-physics-major-in-the-late-1970s-my-very-few-fellow/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Simple DNA gradually morphed and evolved, so that you had the coming into being of ever more complex and diverse creatures, until one day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/simple-dna-gradually-morphed-and-evolved-so-that-you-had-the-coming/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [I have an abiding interest in how ordinary people produce knowledge, and what it means for individuals to know the world. I thought I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/i-have-an-abiding-interest-in-how-ordinary-people-produce-knowledge/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [As a child it was clear to me that in some sense math was in the world around us. I became fascinated by what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/as-a-child-it-was-clear-to-me-that-in-some-sense-math-was-in-the/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Science is not just for an elite few. Science's vision of the universe is becoming increasingly inaccessible. That doesn't mean it's wrong. On some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/science-is-not-just-for-an-elite-few-science-s-vision-of-the-universe/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Seeing and playing with physical objects can enable access to symbolic ideas. 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Good sleep they sought for themselves, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/now-know-i-well-what-people-sought-formerly-above-all-else-when-they/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Because my graduate academic training at law school was not one that included most of the intellectual traditions I find useful for understanding the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-spade/because-my-graduate-academic-training-at-law-school-was-not-one-that/) [Dean Spade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-spade/) > [An academic discipline, or any other semiotic domain, for that matter, is not primarily content, in the sense of facts and principles. 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I am a novelist who happens to be quite good academically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-am-not-an-academic-who-happens-to-have-written-a-novel-i-am-a/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) [Browse all 958 Academic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For ten years, I wrote regular columns about science for women's magazines, and to my knowledge I'm the only person in the world who can say that. This has no kudos in either the science-writing world or the academic world, but it's one of the most challenging things I've ever done. 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