Lessons on Scientific Writing

​Introduction and Contents
Summary for Undergraduates: Writing as an engineer and scientist
Lesson 1: Writing emails and letters
Lesson 2: Being precise and clear
Lesson 3: Avoiding ambiguity
Lesson 4: Sustaining energy
Lesson 5: Connecting your ideas
Lesson 6: Beginning with the familiar 
Lesson 7: Organizing research papers
Lesson 8: Emphasizing details
Lesson ​9: Organizing reports
​Lesson 10: Incorporating illustrations
Appendix A: Essence of grammar
Appendix B: Essence of punctuation
Appendix C: Avoiding common errors of usage
Appendix D: Choosing a professional format

Writing Reports

In addition to emails and letters, engineers and scientists write many other formal documents. On a single project, examples would be to propose a design, to update the design's progress, to present test results of the design, and to document the completed design. This section discusses common types of formal documents  and presents sample professional formats based on the report format at Sandia National Laboratories.

Instructor Resources

These resources are intended to help instructors teach writing to students in engineering and science courses. Included are resources for both a standalone course on technical writing and a large STEM course with a writing component. Also included are teaching slides from The Craft of Scientific Writing.

Writing Emails and Letters

Engineers, scientists, and technical professionals often write emails. In addition, they sometimes write other forms of correspondence such as letters and memos. In engineering and science, such correspondence is an effective way to make requests, submit small changes to a job, and deliver specific information. ​This section presents professional formats and student models.

Exercises 

This section presents short films and exercises to review the essence of grammar, punctuation, and usage in scientific writing. Acquiring this essence is important to help you avoid errors that can undercut your credibility. In addition, understanding grammar allows you not only to connect sentences in sophisticated ways but also to provide more precise reviews of documents written by others.