Help with Technical and Scientific Writing

I recommend the following books and online pages for help with technical writing. I provide a brief comment after each entry to highlight its strong points. Entries in each category are more or less in order of usefulness, web links first, books last.

Technical writing

The Mayfield Handbook of Technical and Scientific Writing

recommenced; concise guide to technical writing from MIT authors, L. C. Perelman, J. Paradis, and E. Barrett; concise explanation of all aspects of technical writing; available in printed form, but perhaps most useful is this free online hypertext version

recommenced; concise guide to technical writing from MIT authors, L. C. Perelman, J. Paradis, and E. Barrett; concise explanation of all aspects of technical writing; available in printed form, but perhaps most useful is this free online hypertext version Handbook of Technical Writing, G. J. Alred, W. E. Oliu and C. T. Brusaw (Bedford/St. Martin's, New York, 2018, 10th edition)

highly recommenced; complete guide to technical writing and other forms of professional communication; includes succinct summary of the writing process; informative entries arranged in alphabetical order; excellent index

highly recommenced; complete guide to technical writing and other forms of professional communication; includes succinct summary of the writing process; informative entries arranged in alphabetical order; excellent index Grammar, Punctuation, and Capitalization: A Handbook for Technical Writers and Editors (1990)

NASA report that summarizes the rules relevant to technical writing

NASA report that summarizes the rules relevant to technical writing AIP Style Manual with searchable text (1997)

American Institute of Physics provides this helpful guide, which has useful advice about technical writing in the physical sciences

American Institute of Physics provides this helpful guide, which has useful advice about technical writing in the physical sciences How to Write a Good Scientific Paper, Chris A. Mack (SPIE, 2018)

A concise SPIE pamphlet with useful guidance that is available as a free ebook.

A concise SPIE pamphlet with useful guidance that is available as a free ebook. MIT Guide to Science and Engineering Communication, J. G. Paradis and M. L. Zimmerman (MIT, Cambridge, 2002)

treats all means of technical communication; includes a useful brief handbook of style and usage

treats all means of technical communication; includes a useful brief handbook of style and usage An Outline of Scientific Writing: For Researchers With English As a Foreign Language, J. T. Yang (World Scientific, 1995)

may be especially useful for ESL writers

may be especially useful for ESL writers Guide to Technical Editing: Discussion, Dictionary, and Exercises, Anne Eisenberg (Oxford University, New York, 1992)

useful guide to technical editing

useful guide to technical editing SciWrite: Writing in the Sciences

Upper-level online course offered by Stanford University and taught by Kristin Sainani. Especially helpful for its class room-style demonstration of the revision process. After registering, you may watch whatever sessions with which you feel you need help.

English writing

Dictionaries and Thesauruses

American Heritage Dictionary, an excellent dictionary with pronunciation sound clip

Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus

usable, gives etymology and pronunciation sound clips

usable, gives etymology and pronunciation sound clips Wordsmyth Dictionary and Thesaurus

very usable, although definitions are brief; identifies parts of speech

very usable, although definitions are brief; identifies parts of speech Synonym Finder (Rodale, 1978)

a thesaurus in dictionary form; very easy to use

Articles on technical writing

I recommend the following articles on technical writing (reproduced by permission). I provide a list of keywords for each. More recent issues of IEEE Transactions on Professional Commmunication are listed at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=47.

Article on conference organization

Slides from my course on Technical Writing for Publication

"Writing for publication," K. M. Hanson, full set of slides from a short course presented at SPIE Medical Imaging Symposium, Houston, Texas, February 10, 2018 (abstract), slides (pdf, 3327 KB, 175 slides)

This page provided by Ken Hanson, kmh@hansonhub.com/

Go to my home page: kmh-lanl.hansonhub.com/

Last modified 17 February 2019