How to Write Physics and Engineering

You set it up carefully, the numbers came out close to the accepted value, and you understood what was happening the whole way through. Then the report came back with comments about your graph axes and something about your discussion being descriptive.

In most physics and engineering degrees a large share of your mark comes from documents rather than lab technique, and almost nobody is taught how to write them.

The fixes are mechanical. Reports lose marks in a small number of predictable places, each has a rule, and none of them requires you to understand the physics any better than you already do.

Two PDF editions are included

Your order includes the complete book in both layouts. Use the 6 × 9 edition when you want the paperback reading experience or a compact printout. Use the A4 edition for a larger screen page and easier home or office printing.

• 6 × 9 print edition: 149 pages
• A4 screen edition: 113 pages
• Both files are DRM-free PDFs
• Both editions contain the same complete book

What this book helps you do

• What a marker's rubric actually weights, and where reports leak marks
• A structure for every section, from the four-sentence abstract to the discussion
• Uncertainty as writing, not just arithmetic: the sentences that carry the marks
• Twelve graphs that lose marks, and the seven-point check that fixes them
• Design reports, specifications, technical memos, and the final-year project
• Five report makeovers, forty common errors, and a submission checklist

Table of contents

The downloadable editions include the complete chapters and toolkit listed below.

What a Report Is For

1. The Reader Is a Replicator
2. Why Reports Are Marked the Way They Are
3. Where Report Marks Leak

The Sections

4. Title, Abstract, and Aim
5. Theory: The Derivation That Earns Its Place
6. Method: Past Passive, and What to Leave Out
7. Results: The Data, Not the Discussion
8. Uncertainty: Writing It, Not Just Computing It
9. Discussion: Comparison, Not Narration
10. Conclusion, and What It May Not Contain

Numbers, Tables, and Figures

11. Units, Significant Figures, and Notation
12. Tables That Get Marked
13. Graph Forensics
14. Captions That Stand Alone

Derivations and Computation

15. Writing a Derivation Somebody Can Follow
16. Symbols, Nomenclature, and Notation
17. Computational Work: Code, Simulation, and Reproducibility

The Big Documents

18. Design Reports and Specifications
19. Technical Memos and Executive Summaries
20. The Final-Year Project Report
21. Writing With Other People

Finishing

22. Revision, Proofreading, and Submission
23. References, Data, and Honesty

Toolkit

1. Five Report Makeovers
2. Skeletons for Six Documents
3. The Uncertainty Phrasebook
4. Forty Common Errors
5. The Submission Checklist
6. Further Reading, Honestly Annotated

Edition details

• Title: How to Write Physics and Engineering
• Subtitle: Lab Reports, Derivations, Design Documents, and Your Final-Year Project
• Author: Gaurav Tiwari
• Publisher: Gaurav Tiwari Publications
• Formats: 6 × 9 PDF and A4 PDF
• Language: English

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