MIT Guide to Science & Engineering Communication   [Review]

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	Issues in Science and Technology   Librarianship
	Spring 2003

	DOI:10.5062/F4H41PD5



      

    Book Reviews
    The MIT Guide to Science and Engineering   Communication
      Robin N. Sinn
  Ogg Science Library
  Bowling Green State University
rsinn@bgnet.bgsu.edu  
    


    


The MIT Guide to Science and Engineering  Communication 2nd ed. By James G. Paradis and Muriel L. Zimmerman.   Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 2002. $29.95 (ISBN  0-262-66127-6).

    The first edition of this title was published in 1997. Since that time,  the scientific writing process has been enhanced by changes in technology  -- from a greater use of e-mail to the routine use of PowerPoint  presentations at conferences. The second edition includes new information  to reflect the greater use of the electronic environment at all stages of  the writing process. 

    Paradis, Professor and Head of the Program in Writing and Humanistic  Studies at MIT, and Zimmerman, Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of the  Programs in Technical Communication in the Writing Program at the  University of California, Santa Barbara, have updated and improved their  original work. The writing is clear and conversational; the examples have  been taken from actual situations. The content of the many illustrations  hasn't changed, but their display has been improved -- most of them are  larger and printed in a more attractive manner. Each chapter starts with a  list of the major sections and the book is now spiral bound so it can lay  flat on a worktable. The authors have also added a short review of style  and usage before the list of references and the index. 

    It is difficult to point to specific instances of added or revised  material since the revisions are so pervasive. A two-paragraph example in  the first chapter is altered only by adding a phrase about most of the  documents being exchanged via e-mail. In another instance a chapter  previously titled Conducting Meetings has changed its emphasis and is now  Collaborative Writing. 

    The second edition of the MIT Guide to Science and Engineering  Communication is an excellent introduction/overview of the  scientific writing process. Both new and veteran writers will find this  book useful. I'm going to keep my review copy. 

    

  

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