This book is the product of an unusually close collaboration between three scientists from two countries. The three of us share varied backgrounds including teaching, research, and publishing in chemistry, but above all we share a deep interest in the role of the written word in science. Our book is especially dedicated to fellow chemists and aspiring chemists everywhere, but we hope it will be of service to others in the scientific community as well. Most of the examples in the book have been taken from chemistry, and some may be of interest only to chemists (such as the short excursion into chemical nomenclature in Chapter 6). Nevertheless, we have tried to present the basic ideas in such a way that they will be accessible to scientists in general. This is why our book has been given the title The Art of Scientific Writing and not "The Art of Chemical Writing" (which is not in any case an art in its own right).