RE: Do TWs need to be formally educated in engineering and science? was, RE: old school

["Dan Goldstein" <DGoldstein -at- riverainmedical -dot- com>]

There are excellent tech writers on TECHWR-L who have come from both of
the backgrounds you describe below. Most of us have also met lousy tech
writers who come from both of those backgrounds.

This Sisyphean debate cannot be won. On your marks... get set...

Somewhere, Andrew Plato is laughing.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Leonard C. Porrello
> Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 12:12 PM
> To: AL Geist; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Do TWs need to be formally educated in engineering 
> and science? was,RE: old school
> 
> ... Granted this, it seems to me, all other things being 
> equal, that the technical writer with an education in 
> letters, who has received on the job training, would be 
> a stronger technical writer than the engineer with 
> little or no education in letters.
> 
> And if this claim is too strong, I still don't see, in 
> light of Gene's own comments, how an engineer who 
> switches to technical writing is better off than the 
> technical writer, educated in letters, with an aptitude 
> for understanding and explaining technology...
> 

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