Writing for Engineers (Palgrave Study Guides)

Although, according to the title, the book is primarily aimed at engineers, I would highly recommend it to anyone who works (or studies) in a technical context and who wishes to write effectively - whether technical, or non-technical for that matter. As an electronic engineer, I can easily relate to the technical information presented in the book, of which there is not a great amount – which is a good thing because the book would be an excellent reference for many types of managers and professionals who want to write to be clearly understood.

Since I use email a lot – and probably too much – I was pleased to see over four pages dedicated to this. In this, and other respects, the book is very up-to-date in it’s coverage… Sorry, I had to refer to the section on Apostrophes - that should have been ‘its coverage’.

The activities in the book bring the topics to life and are an enjoyable way to actually test your writing skills in the safety of your office or at home. I am happy to say that the last section of the book provides solutions to these activities with appropriate additional comments.

I now have several of Joan van Emden’s books on my shelf including 'Effective Communication for Science & Technology' (Palgrave), 'Technical Writing & Speaking' (McGraw-Hill) and 'Report Writing' (Stanley Thornes). But what makes this book special is that it is an invaluable reference, small enough to carry around in your briefcase! I would highly recommend this book - for your briefcase or your desk.