: Interesting and easier-to-read alternatives to the scientific academic article Short version: What is an equally informative, but more interesting alternative to typical academic-article-style scientific

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I think you should simply try writing the lab report using active voice, simple words, and clear prose. Make Strunk & White proud. Even if you work within the typical headings and content requirements of a lab report, this would still represent a departure from the norm. As an added benefit, other scientists might see the advantages of clear prose, too. I think they would be less likely to notice if your paper was a radical departure from their accustomed format (notwithstanding the occasional Trekkie, I suppose :-)

And, if you'd like to think about how scientific papers are organized, and different ways the traditional paper might be organized, Sir Peter Medawar (Nobel Prize winning immunologist) wrote a wonderful essay called "The Scientific Paper is a Fraud." I make all my students read it. You can find it easily via Google.

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In our college days, my best friend used to write his reports as diplomatic communiqués from Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan. Fortunately, the teacher was also a Trekkie, and appreciated the humor. YMMV on that one.

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It sounds like you have a very understanding prof - I'd take advantage of that!

Maybe you could write a children's book about it - how could you simplify the experiment to a level that a child (teenager?) could perform at home, using household objects? You could have a side-panel that explains how it was done in the lab, if that's needed for academic purposes. Then explain the results in a way that a young person would understand, and give examples of the principle that they may have seen in their daily lives. Then publish the writing at Christmas time, and give me half of the proceeds!

Don't like that one? Maybe an allegory - did you ever watch the WKRP episode where Venus explains the atom to his girlfriend's (thirty-year old) son using a story about gangs? I don't know enough about physics to know if it would work, but it'd be cool if it did!

Maybe you're more business-oriented. You could write a presentation in which you explain the ideas to a panel of business-folk who need to understand the principle in order to make the right decision about the area of technology to invest in.

Are you an artist? A graphic approach would be cool. A lyricist? Write a song! Like sci.fi.? Write a story set in the future, where the rules of physics you're 'discovering' are being bent, somehow, by some mysterious force, and the characters are fighting to understand what's happening.

I think the possibilities are extensive, but to some extent, they're going to depend on your own interests and talents, so I'm not sure how much more help other people can be. You don't want to be a physicist, so... what DO you want to do? Take advantage of this opportunity to start doing whatever it is a little early!

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Take a look at creative nonfiction. This approach relies on facts like a journalist, but uses the literary techniques of a novelist.

Lee Gutkind has promoted this genre extensively through Creative Nonfiction magazine and several books. You may be able to find some of them in your library. There's a book by Philip Gerard, also titled Creative Nonfiction, that discusses several examples of this style of writing.

Here's a video where Gutkind discusses how to convey factual information within a story framework.

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Joseph M. Williams's Style. It's a book (in about 63 different editions), but there's a short version. It's about how to write so as to match the way readers read.

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