An anatomy of an article

On the face of it, just like a lot of activities in NDT, writing these articles is a simple process. I have an idea which I think is worth writing about and, hopefully, will be of interest to the majority of readers of NDT News. I then write the article, which contains the message in the idea. You read the article and, as a minimum, are entertained and, even better, possibly even spurred into an action of some sort. Simple. Job done. Now I know, because of the kind feedback I have received, that this simple process has worked on occasion. I suspect that there has probably been many an occasion when it has not worked as intended, with negative feedback being stifled by the threat that the editor may respond (and he will): "if you think you can do better, you write a column!".

But of course it is not a simple process. I have had a number of instances over the past few weeks, writing a document and responding to comments, reading emails, which have emphasised the complexity of communicating by the written word. So the process actually is better described by the following. I have an idea or maybe two connected ideas. But these ideas are born out of my view of the world. I then have to convey these ideas, with possibly some explanation, using words. Luckily, we do tend to think in words so that gives a good start. The Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words in current use, whilst a person's average vocabulary, although difficult to define, is approximately between 35,000 and 50,000, with the active vocabulary being less than this.

Not only am I constrained by my linguistic ability but I am constrained by the space available in NDT News. So I may say that 'NDT is a black art', when what I should really say is 'NDT is, in my opinion, a black art'. I could mention some small part has failed. Fail and failure are very emotive words and can be easily interpreted as meaning a whole entity is useless. In the very act of writing I am distorting my message. The next step in the process is for you to read it. You read the words but you will interpret them in the light of your knowledge and experience and also your perception of my intentions, which will modify the message even further. It is only to be expected that the simple process works only occasionally.

Words, and a common understanding of words across different languages, are crucial to the proper application of NDT. How much misunderstanding is there over terms such as capability, repeatability, reproducibility, variability and reliability? Hence we have a number of European standards (BS EN 1330) which define the meanings of words and phrases used in different NDT activities. And new ones are required as technology progresses: a proposed document on ultrasonic phased arrays (DPC 09/30193710DC) introduces such words as apodisation and salvo.

But there are many other words on which a reliable inspection depends and these are not necessarily covered in any NDT glossary. Whilst reading an article about quality assurance in NDT, I was hit by how many of these words are prefixed by 're'. One of the meanings of 're' is: once more; afresh; anew. In addition to the three words in the previous paragraph we also need to understand and apply more than once: recognise; reward; respect; retain; retrain; refresh.

Paul Krugman, a Princeton Economics Professor, states on his website a belief that "if a column does not greatly upset a substantial number of people, the author has wasted the space". He goes on to say that, in economics, many people have strong views but not all of them have taken the trouble to think those views through, "so that simply insisting on being clear-headed about an issue is usually enough to enrage many if not most of your readers".

I differ from Krugman in that I try to shy away from deliberately upsetting people, but my intention is to raise views and get you, the reader, to respond and react by thinking those views through. If I can achieve that I will not have failed! If I can persuade you to also act on those views I will have not have failed even more! It all rests on my choice of words.

Please note that the views expressed in this column are the author's own personal ramblings for the purpose of encouraging discussion within the NDT Newspaper. They do not represent the views of the IVC, Serco Assurance or the HSE who funded the PANI projects.

Letters can be mailed to The Editor, NDT News, Newton Building, St George's Avenue, Northampton NN2 6JB. Fax: 01604 89 3861; Email: ndtnews@bindt.org or email Bernard McGrath direct at Bernard.McGrath@sercoassurance.com