Ms.

ParticularPresents:
DueTo

17July2012

Todaywelllookatdueto,whichMs.Particularhateswithawhitehotpassion.
TheodoreBernstein1 andBryanGarner2 (majorgodsinMs.Particularspantheon)
objecttoduetoonpurelygrammaticalgrounds.ButMs.Particularsantipathyruns
deeperthanmeregrammar.
Yourmostimportantjobasascientististodeterminecausality,totelltherestofus
whatthemechanismisbetweencauseandeffect.Unfortunately,manytechnical
writersuseduetotomeaneverythingfromvaguelyassociatedwithtobecause
of.AndthatswhyMs.Particularobjectstodueto;notbecauseitis(usually)
incorrectgrammatically,butbecauseitsalmostalwayssloppyandimprecise.
Garnerdevotesalmostawholepageto"dueto"(andwhyonewriter[L.V.Payne]callsit
a"gracelessphrase,evenwhenusedcorrectly."Garneradviseswritersto"avoiddueto
altogether."TheodoreBernstein(legendaryeditoroftheNewYorkTimes)saysabout
"dueto":"Thecarefulwriter,whodoesnotwishtobesuspectedofnegligence,
will...use'becauseof,whichhasalesscasualflavorandisabovesuspicion
grammatically."
1. TheodoreM.Bernstein,TheCarefulWriter:AModernGuidetoEnglishUsage(New
York,Atheneum,1977),pp.152153.
2. BryanA.Garner,GarnersModernAmericanUsage (OxfordUniversityPress,2003),
pp.277278.

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TheBoardofTrusteesoftheUniversityofIllinois

Ms.ParticularPresents:
DueTo

17July2012

Carelesswritersoftenuseduetoasathoughtlessshorthandtocompress
complexcausalrelationshipsintooneeasy,sixcharactercatchphasethathas
becomenearlymeaninglessbecauseofoveruse.Asusedinmostscientificwriting,
duetocompletelyblursthedegreeof(oreventhedirectionof)causality.
Strictlyspeaking,"dueto"means"attributableto.""Stansfallwasduetotheicy
sidewalk"isgrammaticallycorrect(Stanfellduetotheicysidewalkisnot),butit
isimpreciseandprobablyincomplete.MaybeStan'snewshoeswiththeslicksoles
alsocontributedtothefall,orhisnaturalclumsiness,orthesevenbagsofgroceries
hewascarrying,orhisoglingthestatuesquebrunetteinsteadofpayingattentionto
hisfooting,orthesixvodkamartinishedrankbeforehesteppedoutside.Tosay
thefallwas"dueto"thesidewalkgrosslyoversimplifieswhatactuallycausedStan's
fall.
Inthesameway,whenscientistsuse"dueto"indiscriminatelyasasubstitutefor
"causedby,""arisingfrom,"becauseof,""associatedwith,""owingto,"oranyof
dozensofotherpreciseterms,themechanismofwhatiscausingwhatgetsmurky.
Everytimeyouretemptedtowritedueto,askyourselfWhatsreallygoingon
here?WhatcauseandeffectamItryingtodescribe?Whatsthemechanism?
Chancesare,duetowillnotsufficetoproperlyconveythatrelationship.

Copyright2012
TheBoardofTrusteesoftheUniversityofIllinois

Ms.ParticularPresents:
DueTo

17July2012

Otherquestionableduetoexamples,allfromrecentpaperspublishedinPRL:
Recently, several femtosecond-laser techniques have demonstrated molecular
excitation to high rotational states with a preferred sense of rotation. We consider
collisional relaxation in a dense gas of such unidirectionally rotating molecules, and
suggest that due to angular momentum conservation, collisions lead to the
generation of macroscopic vortex gas flows.
Surprisingly, we find that for long wires the voltage predominantly drops close to
one end of the quantum wire due to a thermoelectric effect.
We demonstrate, through experiment and theory, enhanced high-frequency current
oscillations due to magnetically-induced conduction resonances in superlattices.
[Theincorrecthyphenbetweenmagneticallyandinducedwillbedealtwith
separately.Ms.P.]
The dynamics of the coherent structures is controlled by the competition between
the phase-space island formation due to the nonlinear particle trapping and the
island destruction due to the free streaming.
Duetoasplittingheadache,Ms.Particularisunabletoprovideanymore
examples

Copyright2012
TheBoardofTrusteesoftheUniversityofIllinois

Ms.ParticularPresents:
DueTo

17July2012

Justsayno todueto!Doyourjobasascientist,andmakethecausal
relationshipclear.

Copyright2012
TheBoardofTrusteesoftheUniversityofIllinois