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I tutor English language and literature. I sometimes find that tutees are really keen on engineering, tech and so on, and find analysing the more traditional texts intimidating (I mean Shakespeare and so on).

I know there are classic essays on computing, and it occurred to me that the same might be true of electrical engineering and engineering in general. Classic books would be equally valid.

Can anyone suggest such a thing? Many thanks.

David
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    You *tutor* English "*lang and lit*"??? Oh, dear... – stevenvh Oct 07 '12 at 10:58
  • That's right. I tutor, in the sense given by the Oxford English Dictionary: "tutor, v. trans. To act the part of a tutor towards; to give special or individual instruction to; to teach, instruct (in a subject)." – David Oct 07 '12 at 11:18
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    Yes, I know what tutoring is. But *lang* and *lit*? Isn't it ironic if someone who tutors language and literature doesn't use proper language himself? – stevenvh Oct 07 '12 at 11:24
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    @Steven - "English lang. and lit." is a *very* common abbreviation used for these subjects (in the UK, not sure about elsewhere) – Oli Glaser Oct 07 '12 at 11:27
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    I've expanded my abbreviations in the hope that the discussion will return to classic texts on electrical and general engineering. My apologies to anyone who was misled. – David Oct 07 '12 at 11:34
  • @Oli - In Dutch we also have that kind of academic slang. "Pol & soc" for instance is common for "Political and social sciences", but I've never seen it in writing. Note that not everybody here has English as first language, and though I understood what it meant it looked odd to me. – stevenvh Oct 07 '12 at 11:42
  • @Steven - fair enough, it is often seen written down here (classic example [here](http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=655729)) so it's the kind of thing no-one notices much. – Oli Glaser Oct 07 '12 at 12:04
  • I'm really confused about what you are looking for. You say the students are intimidated by classical literature like Shakepeare, but it seems you are looking for similar texts related to engineering? But that would mean you are deliberately trying to intimidate the students with engineering material too? What is the point? Engineering and high falutin' literature are different and contain very different information. Engineering information needs to be precise and mathematical, so it's written that way. Literature is more art, so can be "sloppy" but with feeling. – Olin Lathrop Oct 07 '12 at 12:52
  • Hi Olin. I'm looking for essays and other texts about electrical and other types of engineering. I'm unsure as yet whether such things exist, though the name of Bob Pease referred to by another poster has brought up some useful material. – David Oct 07 '12 at 14:04
  • So not so much "engineering information", but perhaps discussion of the discipline of engineering, perhaps attempts to explain complex areas to the layman, perhaps books explaining their author's general philosophy of engineering... An analogy from physics might be 'Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman'. – David Oct 07 '12 at 14:15
  • @David - You have to use the "@" before Olin's name if you want him to be notified of your comment. This is only for comments. Some people use the "@" in answers too, but it has no function there. If you leave a comment to a question or answer then poster of that will automatically be notified. – stevenvh Oct 07 '12 at 16:21
  • If you are looking for essays about engineering, and not actual technical/academic papers, have a look at the books by Henry Petroski. The ones I've read, *To Engineer is Human* and *The Pencil*, both give excellent insights into the process and concerns of engineers, but are aimed at general readers rather than trained engineers. – The Photon Oct 07 '12 at 17:33
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    @stevenh Really, the first thing you do is offend the poster on a discipline that is not your own but his? – apalopohapa Oct 08 '12 at 01:10

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I think it's an excellent question but I'm trying to think of something undeniably "classic" that wouldn't be too intimidating in a technical sense (e.g. Faraday's equations, Shockleys transistor patent, etc)

As far as readable/inspiring goes, I think many of the articles written by people like Jim Williams, Bob Pease might be worth looking at. "Analog Circuit Design: Art, Science and Personalities" is a non-too-technical collection of stories written by many top electrical engineers (including the above mentioned Jim Williams)

Also, a story based around a major engineering achievement may be worth looking at, for instance the Apollo missions and moon landing - "Apollo: The race to the moon" apparently focuses on the team/engineering perspective.

SamGibson
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Oli Glaser
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  • Thanks Oli. An initial Google turns up some useful-looking columns Bob Pease wrote for electronic design at http://electronicdesign.com/article/analog-and-mixed-signal/bob-pease-remembered-year-74113 – David Oct 07 '12 at 14:16
  • Race to the Moon: +1 – Rocketmagnet Oct 07 '12 at 22:32
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Vitruvius, Ten Books of Architecture, is something that I heavily reference when teaching about failure modes. Parts of it are good reads.

Scott Seidman
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  • Thanks Scott. Picked at random from that text, 'The Directions of the Streets; With Remarks on the Winds' looks like it could fit the bill. – David Oct 07 '12 at 14:17
  • @David Don't forget that here when you say thanks, you're supposed to click on the up arrow next to the answer too. – AndrejaKo Oct 07 '12 at 14:51
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    Fair reminder, AndrejaKo. I did try at the moment I added the comment, but my reputation was under 15 so I was blocked. I've now done so. – David Oct 07 '12 at 14:56
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I guess you will find a lot of texts you are looking for in "The World of Mathematics" by James R. Newman (editor).

It's a 4 volume collection of mainly classical texts not only about mathematics but also about philosophy, physics and some more practical topics (like "How to hunt a submarine").

It contains texts from John von Neuman, Alan M. Turing, Claude Shannon, Aldous Huxley, Lewis Carrol, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein etc.

Curd
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"The Existential pleasures of engineering" 2nd ed. by Samuel C. Florman ISBN 0-312-14104-1 Not about specific fields but about the general approach.

Amazon Here "A deeply insightful and refreshingly unique text, this book corrects the myth that engineering is cold and passionless... "

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These are slightly off-topic, but are sciencey and classic.

  • Origin of Species - Charles Darwin.
  • Death and Life of Great American Cities - Jane Jacobs
  • Almost anything by Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Feynman.
Rocketmagnet
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Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency by Nikola Tesla, and its available for free in iBooks.

Matt Young
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