Why English is important in the scientific community

In the scientific community, English is slowly becoming the dominant language of choice. The majority of scientific reports and journals are now available in English. Many international conventions and meetings are spoken and presented in English. With this in mind, it stands to reason that to become an active and functional member of this community, knowledge of the English language is essential.

English should not be taken as the superior language for the sciences but rather as a convenient tool for sharing scientific knowledge. For example, having one language to share information can allow discoveries and new technologies to be distributed practically and more efficiently. English just happened to be the adopted language of science.

As test tubes and beakers are important tools for collecting scientific data, English is just a tool for sharing the data. Mike Brotherton on the topic of Science and English says, “Science is one of the few truly international human endeavors and it benefits from open and regular communication.” This is to say that it is important not to let English get into the way of learning the sciences, but rather let it be used as an instrument to share the knowledge.

Mr J. Lee, BASc (Hons), University of Waterloo, Canada