TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: SACRED COWS From:Yves Jeaurond <yves_jeaurond -at- CBC -dot- CA> Date:Wed, 25 Mar 1998 15:03:00 EST
Everyone including John Gilger:
<grin> A recent MIT study shows that mechanical engineers make better tech
writers than electrical engineers, yet that bio-chemical engineers surpass them
all (...) The study was conducted by a panel of noted sociologists,
philosophers and historians (...)
I'm reminded of Molière's staging of fisticuffs between the "Bourgeois
Gentilhomme's" teachers who each insist that their own trade is the most
useful.
Derrida would dismiss such a puerile debate: one deconstructs as best one can.
A causal link between one's experience with engineering and one's experience
with style has yet to be demonstrated.
The latest issue of "Daedelus" sports a wonderful article (by an engineer!) on
how writers (Hume, Kant, Goethe) have had a marked influence on Einstein's
engineering ...