The MIT Guide to Science and Engineering Communication, 2nd ed.

Citation

MacDonald, R. (2003), "The MIT Guide to Science and Engineering Communication, 2nd ed.", The Electronic Library, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 173-174. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470310470589

The MIT Guide to Science and Engineering Communication, 2nd ed., aims to “bridge the gap between the university novice and the seasoned professional” (p. viii) in the practice of technical writing. Paradis and Zimmerman have written an excellent and practical guide to communicating effectively in the reports, proposals, and papers that plague the professional lives of scientists, engineers – and even librarians.

The authors are well‐suited to the task: Paradis and Zimmerman have long histories of teaching scientific and technical writing, and run courses at MIT and the University of California, Santa Barbara, respectively. Effective communication is essential to science, and the authors provide an excellent model of consistent layout, helpful illustrations, and straightforward prose. Part I of the book deals with fundamentals, including identifying one’s audience and developing graphics, plus wider aspects of writing such as collaborative writing, literature searching, and documenting sources. Part II explains the aims, functions, and unique features of nine kinds of document, including memos and e‐mail, proposals, progress reports, reports, journal articles, oral presentations, instruction manuals, electronic documents, and résumés. Finally, an excellent style guide details 27 common errors in usage, grammar, and punctuation, all illustrated with examples and “improved” versions. Every chapter alerts the reader to the growing potential for presenting documents on screen or online (the major reason for producing a second edition).

The book is designed to be used: each chapter begins with a list of subheadings to be found in the following pages, and the spiral binding allows users to work with the page open flat at any of the many illustrations. Real‐life relevance is also emphasised: many illustrations are either suggested layouts for documents or figures, or examples from actual documents. A short scenario in each chapter illustrates the sort of real situation that the reader might face, while the excerpts used in the style guide are drawn from actual documents.

A lot of ground is admirably covered, but the treatment can seem a little light, particularly when dealing with electronic formats: the advice on designing documents for the computer screen is good, but there is little of it. Surprisingly, there is no mention of patents, despite the increase in commercially backed research that finds many scientists involved in patent preparation before publishing papers. The most notable omission, however, is the lack of any recommendations for further reading, which could have steered readers to more detailed treatments on particular subjects (e.g. Day’s (1998) How to Write and Publish A Scientific Paper, 5th ed.).

Gripes aside, this book would be a valuable addition to any library collection serving users involved in technical writing. Although targeted at scientists and engineers, much of the content would be applicable to other disciplines, including library and information science. Anyone who has ever written a user guide to the shelving in the reference section or prepared a proposal for updating the OPAC would benefit from Paradis’ and Zimmerman’s efforts. So encourage your customers to read this book – but do not forget to do so yourself.