by stephmcg
Good Sentences
[Via Cosmic Variance]
Timothy Ferris, in The Science of Liberty:
In 1900 there was not a single liberal democracy in the world (since none yet had universal suffrage); by 1950 there were twenty-two.
Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution has an ongoing series of posts in which he highlights “good sentences.” At first the conceit bugged me a bit, as how good can a single sentence be? It’s not like you have space to develop a sensible argument or anything.
But that’s the point, of course. A really good sentence packs a wallop because it fits an enormous amount into very few words. One technique for doing that is to exhibit an underlying assumption that is a remarkable claim in its own right. If I were to have tried to make the point that Ferris makes above, it would have been something like this:
Liberal democracies were established in fits and starts over a period of hundreds of years. The first major steps happened in countries like Britain, the United States, and France, where aristocratic systems were replaced (with different amounts of violence) by rule by popular vote. But I would argue that a true liberal democracy is one that features universal suffrage — every adult citizen has a right to participate. By that standard, there weren’t any liberal democracies in existence in the year 1900; but fifty years later, there were twenty-two.
Makes the point, but it’s a somewhat ponderous collection of mediocre sentences, rather than a single one of immense power. That’s the difference between someone who writes things, like me, and a true writer. I’m trying to learn.
[More]
I’m trying to learn also. As scientists, we are trained in a certain narrative style – provide a beginning proposal, provide lots of background and underlying data, all leading to a definite conclusion.
So we tend to bulk things up. A good writer knows how to unbulk things, to reduce the narrative to its most cogent points and to provide a tremendous amount of information packed into a few words.
We have here a nice description of a great sentence. But, what this post means to me derives not only from an envy of good wordsmithing but also from the original example.
The Science of Liberty sounds like a fascinating book, although since I am inclined to believe its premise – that science drove the Enlightenment and not the other way around – I will read it somewhat skeptically.
So, I started up my iPad and opened iBooks, just to see if the book was available as an ebook. I quickly found that it was and downloaded a sample (the first 80 pages or so). Now I can find out if it is really worth paying $12 for.
I love technology. I am now interested in a book I only heard about 5 minutes ago via an online post talking about another aspect of the book. I can skim the book over in a digital fashion and decide if I want to buy it.
Being able to download a sample seems like one of the best attributes of the iBook store.
