Book Contents
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Section I
Chapter 1:
Scientific and Technical Communication in Context
Part 1;
Part 2;
Part 3
Chapter 2:
Reading Scientific and Technical Texts
Chapter 3:
Writing Scientific and Technical Texts
Part 1;
Part 2;
Part 3
Chapter 4:
Conducting Research
Part 1;
Part 2
Chapter 5:
Understanding Audiences
Part 1;
Part 2
Chapter 6:
Persuasion and Critical Thinking
Part 1;
Part 2
Chapter 7:
Participation and Policy
Part 1;
Part 2
Section II
Chapter 8:
Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions
Part 1;
Part 2
Chapter 9:
Correspondence
Chapter 10:
Job-Finding Materials
Chapter 11:
Proposals
Part 1;
Part 2
Chapter 12:
Technical Reports
Chapter 13:
Scientific Articles and Abstracts
Chapter 14:
Oral Presentations
Chapter 15:
Formatting, Designing, and Using Graphics
Part 1;
Part 2
Grammar Handbook
Section III
Chapter 16:
Opening
Geoff Cooper:
"Textual Technologies"
Discussion
Chapter 17:
Opening
Steve Fuller: "Putting People Back Into the Business of Science"
Part 1; Part 2
Discussion
Chapter 18:
Opening
William Keith: "Science and Communication"
Discussion
Chapter 19:
Opening
Sujatha Raman: "Challenging High-Tech War"
Discussion
Chapter 20:
Opening
Dale L. Sullivan: "Migrating Across Disciplinary Boundaries"
Discussion
Chapter 21:
Opening
Tobias, Chubin, Aylesworth: "Restructuring Demand for Scientific Expertise"
Part 1; Part 2
Discussion
This web site provides an expanded, digital edition of
Scientific and Technical Communication: Theory, Practice and Policy published originally by Sage Press in 1997 (see the
Introduction to the 1997 edition).
A brief history: What you see as the digital edition of this book was contracted by HarperCollins publishers in 1995. The manuscript was
thoroughly and extensively peer reviewed in 1995 and 1996. However, given editorial turnover and numerous delays the book was withdrawn,
abridged and subsequently published by Sage Press.
The digital edition of Scientific and Technical Communication: Theory, Practice and Policy contains chapter 4,
chapters 8-15 (Section II), and the grammar handbook, not included in the Sage edition.
Please reference an on-line course — "Technical Writing"
(English 3764, Virginia Tech) — that uses the digital edition of this text.
Please feel free to use the book's contents (with proper attribution). If you have questions, encounter errors, or wish to offer suggestions for revision, send an e-mail to James Collier (jim.collier@vt.edu).
Thank you.
Last Updated: February 2011
About the Authors
James H. Collier is the co-author, with Steve Fuller,
of Philosophy, Rhetoric, and the End of Knowledge (Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004)
and author and editor, with David M. Toomey, of
Scientific and
Technical Communication (Sage, 1997). He is an Associate Professor at Virginia Tech.
David M. Toomey is the author of
The New Time Travelers (W.W. Norton, 2007), Stormchasers (W.W. Norton, 2002) and co-author, with Leslie Haynesworh, of Amelia Earhart's Daughters (William Morrow, 1998).
He is an Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.