Technical Communication (13th Edition)

Technical Communication offers complete coverage of technical communication, business communication, and professional writing in a user-friendly writing style. The topics move from basic foundational concepts, to chapters on research, visuals, style, document design, usability, and finally to specific documents (basic workplace correspondence to more complex documents, technologies, and oral presentations).  The appendix includes thorough coverage of MLA, APA, and CSE (Council of Science Editors) documentation styles, and a handbook of grammar, mechanics, and usage. All descriptions of and instructions for creating technical documents are accompanied by clear, annotated model documents.  In addition, graphic illustrations appear throughout the book to make abstract concepts easy to understand. Checklists and Projects provide plentiful opportunities to learn and reinforce chapter topics.

John Lannon is Professor Emeritus and former Director of Writing at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where he developed the undergraduate major in professional writing and later co-developed the M.A. program in professional writing.
He has also taught at Cape Cod Community College, University of Idaho, Southern Vermont College, and University of Strasbourg.
He has authored and coauthored five major textbooks in business communication, rhetoric, and technical communication, book reviews, filmstrips, and environmental documents and instructional software. He is the recipient of an NDEA Fellowship and Fulbright Lectureship. He holds a B.S., M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His initial training and work was in biomedical science and technology with the USAF. He has served as a communications consultant for various companies and government institutions.  He worked seven years in medical laboratories.

Laura J. Gurak is professor and founding chair of the Department of Writing Studies at the University of Minnesota. She holds an M.S. in technical communication and a Ph.D. in communication and rhetoric from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is author of two books from Yale University Press (1997, 2001), the earlier of which was the first book-length work to study online communities and Internet-based social actions. Gurak is also co-editor of several edited collections and author on numerous conference presentations and papers; she is a recipient of the Society for Technical Communication’s Outstanding Article award. Gurak has authored and coauthored five textbooks in technical communication published by Pearson. She has worked as a technical writer and communications consultant for various companies and organizations.