The spectacular serendipity of being a science writer
Author and journalist Mark Henderson cut his teeth as science editor of The Times in London, before becoming head of communications at The Wellcome Trust in 2012. He is the author of The Geek Manifesto and 50 Genetics Ideas You Really Need to Know.
Was there a specific moment that made you follow the path you’re on? An inspiration? A revelation?
It was serendipity. I joined The Times as a graduate trainee, moved onto the staff, and was working as a junior leader writer, when I was asked / told by the then editor to take on the science beat. I had no background in science at all —I have a modern history degree— but I didn’t feel I had a lot of choice.
And it was also a good opportunity: the chance to take on my own patch, and a field that would obviously be pretty interesting (it was 2000 and Bill Clinton had just announced the deal between the Human Genome Project and Celera). My thought though was always that I’d do it for a couple of years, and then move onto a political or foreign or newsdesk posting.
I stayed. I spent more than 10 years covering science at The Times, before moving onto a biomedical charity, the Wellcome Trust. I’ve written two books, about genetics and science and politics. Though I’d never have predicted a career in science writing before getting the serendipitous nudge, it just suited me.
The real inspiration was discovering, for the first time really, the virtues of science as an approach to discovery. That as Carl Sagan put it, science isn’t just a body of knowledge, it’s a way of thinking. It’s the best tool we have for identifying reliable knowledge about the world, for satisfying our curiosity. Despite a great education, I had never properly grasped that before being asked to write about science for a living. Now I find it hard to imagine doing something that doesn’t involve science in a major way.
If somebody asked you for tips on becoming a better writer, what’s the one thing you’d tell them?
It boils down to Tim Radford’s wonderful little maxim —never underestimate your reader’s intelligence or overestimate her knowledge. It’s OK to challenge people with hard stuff. But you have to explain it.
Assume that your reader is willing to work a little to understand something difficult, but don’t assume that he’ll labour through unfamiliar concepts or language he doesn’t understand, unless you walk him through. There is always a way of making even tough material simple. Your job as a writer is to find it. If you really get it right, you’ll help your reader to feel a little bit more intelligent, a little bit better informed, but not patronised or preached at. Michael Lewis is a master of this —here’s a piece I wrote about why.
A short version of this interview was previously published in Overmatter, the weekly email from digital longform publisher MATTER. Sign up for an account today to receive a weekly dose of great stories, enthralling links and insightful tips.
