On October 3, this newspaper reported that the University rector, Alfred Vella, was making written and spoken communication, as well as reading ability, the priorities of his first year and had declared: “A university education is not successful if it teaches several complicated and sophisticated skills but fails to instill the capacity of communicating effectively to others what one knows. Effective communication is key to being academically educated.”

In 1959, as freshers in the (then) Faculty of Technology of the University of Manchester (later UMIST), we were similarly addressed by H. S. Lipson, head of physics. Having first welcomed us to the department, he then launched into a homily, not on the joys of his subject (which was X-ray crystallography) but on the “good manners” required of us, the next generation of researchers, in communicating our results to our fellow scientists.

“The correct use of English is more than a matter of courtesy,” he declared. “It is essential for clear and accurate communication.”

The ability to write fluently was obligatory in the Physics Department and we would have to write non-scientific essays on a variety of subjects. We were not to treat these lightly and there would be trouble if we failed to submit. Phrases should make sense, sentences complete sense and paragraphs should provide logical groupings, with no more than one idea to each paragraph.

“Correct punctuation is not optional in this department,” he warned. “In fact, we have a very strong prejudice in its favour” and “only when you are established can you take liberties with punctuation and then only because no one will dare correct you.” My lifelong debt to Lipson is incalculable and I hope the new generation of students will heed the rector’s speech and so acquire the benefits of lifelong literacy.