Lifestyle Book Reviews
Spring Into Technical Writing for Engineers and Scientists by Barry J. Rosenberg
Addison Wesley, May, 2005Trade Paperback, 253 pages
ISBN: 0131498630
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Technical writing is one of the most lucrative careers in writing. But there is
another group of professionals who must also learn technical writing. For scientists
and engineers it is a crucial skill to have in order to advance in their profession.
Proposals, lab reports and manuals all have very specific requirements.
Spring Into Technical Writing is a how-to guide which
offers technical
writing advice for engineers and scientists. The first section
of the book helps technical writers learn how to determine
who the audience is and come up with a documentation plan.
The second section contains advice about how to write concisely
and effectively. Good advice is given about how and when to use
passive and active voice. This section also offers great advice
about using typographical tools like bulleted lists,
numbered lists and tables and adding graphical elements like
screenshots, block diagrams and photographs.
The third section of the book contains examples and tips for working
with specific kinds of documents like manuals, web
sites, proposals, lab reports and power point presentations.
Spring Into Technical Writing is organized so that each subject is
covered in 175 different tutorials -- this makes it easy for the reader
to jump straight into a specific topic like using numbered lists or
learning how to create a tutorial. Author Barry J. Rosenberg clearly
practices what he preaches because the layout of the book is very
user-friendly and the content is clear, concise and easy-to-follow.
This is must-read for engineers and scientists. But it is also
highly recommended for technical writers, as well.
Return to the August 2005 issue of The IWJ.
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