"An essential guide for college students and scientists and engineers who desire to become accomplished
technical communicators."
--Marian G. Barchilon, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press Publisher Web Site, June, 2002.
Summary
This guide covers the basics of scientific and engineering communication, including defining an audience, working
with collaborators, searching the literature, organizing and drafting documents, developing graphics, and documenting
sources. The documents covered include memos, letters, proposals, progress reports, other types of reports, journal
articles, oral presentations, instructions, and CVs and resumes. Throughout, the authors provide realistic examples
from actual documents and situations. The materials, drawn from the authors' experience teaching scientific and
technical communication, bridge the gap between the university novice and the seasoned professional.
In the five years since the first edition was published, communication practices have been transformed by computer
technology. Today, most correspondence is transmitted electronically, proposals are submitted online, reports are
distributed to clients through intranets, journal articles are written for electronic transmission, and conference
presentations are posted on the Web. Every chapter of the book reflects these changes. The second edition also
includes a compact Handbook of Style and Usage that provides guidelines for sentence and paragraph structure, punctuation,
and usage and presents many examples of strategies for improved style.