Ideas About the English Language in Early Technical Writing Textbooks

Early 20th-century American technical writing textbooks were addressed primarily to students and practitioners ef engineering. The article argues that 12 important textbooks datingfrom 1911-1930 somewhat paradoxically conflate three different traditions eflanguage use prevalent in America at the time. This conflation occurs because engineers in their dual role as applied scientists and progressivist managers were extraordinarily sensitive to language use. In turn, broader social and intellectual currents in America are used to explain engineers' linguistic concerns, which the textbooks, based on engineering practice, mirror.