Compares what 17 early technical writing textbooks have to say about style and audience with three modern texts. Concludes that the field of technical writing has not progressed very far in these two areas and calls for an increased emphasis on rhetorical invention, audience analysis, and style selection. (FL)

A content analysis was conducted of 17 technical writing textbooks published between 1911 and 1938 and of 3 texts published recently to determine if the early texts differ from the more recent ones in the way they define the purposes of technical writing and in their treatment of style and audience. Results showed that both sets of texts define…

Relies on a study of articles on agronomy and engineering to argue that teachers of technical style need to examine more closely the structures used by technical writers, particularly subordinate clauses that may be a means of distinguishing the "languages" of various technical disciplines. (EL)