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Subject:Re: Figures From:Ad absurdum per aspera <JTCHEW -at- LBL -dot- GOV> Date:Fri, 5 Nov 1993 19:33:50 GMT
Len Olszewski <saslpo -at- unx -dot- sas -dot- com> wrote:
> We've gotten ahold of some pretty good line drawing tools here, and now
> I find myself sometimes using figures as a way to clarify my own mental
> organization about topics, chapters, even entire books, prior to
> writing. How about the rest of you?
I'm in a similar situation, though I do science writing at
various levels rather than computer documentation these days.
Trying to draw a figure (especially a conceptual rather than
a literal one) really clarifies my thinking about what's going
on. This is why a lot of scientists do their own drawings and
viewgraphs, at least in draft form -- ever since college they've
been taught to start by Drawing A Picture Of What's Going On as
an early step in solving a problem.
Of course, before going into layout for a slick publication, I
hand over my masterpieces in softcopy to the real illustrators,
whose politeness and diplomacy has been admirable thus far. :)
Joe
"The pallid pimp of the dead-line/The enervate of the pen" -Robert Service
