"Where possible, use examples of immediate contemporary interest," he says. "Illustrate genetics, biochemistry, or evolutionary theory with human examples. Be prepared to pull in issues of contemporary concern--for example, abortion, genetic testing or ecological management."

For Wilson, "it's that simple," though not everyone may find it quite so easy to make science exciting, and best-selling, to readers. Other efforts at linking science and readership, and therefore revenue, are not always as successful.

Angier says that the weekly Science Times is seen as self-sustaining financially, thanks to regular placement of lucrative computer advertisements. On the whole, however, she is not optimistic about the outlook for newspaper science sections.

"Science sections go through boom and bust cycles," she says. "Right now they're in a slump."

But Hayes points out that scientific journals which have experimented with difficulty and specificity in their articles have seen a dramatic rise in subscriptions when articles are made less complex and of more general interest. And books by Wilson and world-renowned paleobiologist Stephen Jay Gould, professor of geology, regularly reach the bestseller lists.

Non-scientists, then, have not been completely turned off of science by its increasing complexity, despite the fact that popular science writers must often sift through layers of information to find anything of interest or importance to them.

And the popular science writers, including Wilson, continue their efforts.

"If you work from the top down, the reader and student sees where it's all going," Wilson says.