Why? In most technical writing, each concept is a like a building block
of understanding—if you don’t understand a particular section or
concept, you won’t be able to understand the nextsection, either.
Most technical books are saturated with ideas, terms, formulas, and
theories. The chapters are dense with information, compressing a
great wealth of ideas into a small space. They demand to be read very
carefully.
In order to get as much as possible from such reading assignments,
you can take advantage of some devices to make sense of the organ-
ization. Here are five basics to watch for:
1.Definitions and terms.
2.Examples.
3.Classifications and listings.
4.Use of contrast.
5.Cause-effect relationships.In reading any specialized text, you must begin at the beginning—
understanding the jargon particular to that discipline. Familiar, every-
day words have very precise definitions in technical writing. Everyday
words can have a variety of meanings, some of them even contradic-
tory, depending on the context in which they’re used.
In contrast, in the sciences, terminology has fixed and specific mean-
ings. For example, the definition of elasticity (the ability of a solid
to regain its shape after a deforming force has been applied) is the
same in Los Angeles or Las Palmas. Such exact terminology enables
scientists to communicate with the precision their discipline requires.
Definitions may vary in length. One term may require a one-sentence
definition; others merit entire paragraphs. Some may even need a
whole chapter to accurately communicate the definition.
Chapter 3 ■How to Read and Remember 55