Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jan 1977

Benjamin Franklin's Contributions to the Development of Technical Communication

Stephen L. Gresham Auburn University

Abstract

Addressing the professional communicator, the technical writing teacher and the interested student, this article discusses Benjamin Franklin's major contributions to the development of technical communication. While the article centers on Franklin's technical writing style as a model for today's technical communicator, it also outlines Franklin's philosophy of technical communication and his incisive views of the scientist's role in society.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
1977-01-01
DOI
10.2190/lu63-q39e-7h90-alva
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
teacher development technical communication
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (4)

  1. Malone et al. (2018)
    “To Promote That Demand”: Toward a History of the Marketing White Paper as a Genre
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. HAGGE (1995)
    Early Engineering Writing Textbooks and the Anthropological Complexity of Disci…
    Written Communication
  3. RIVERS (1994)
    Studies in the History of Business and Technical Writing: A Bibliographical Essay
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Brockmann (1983)
    Bibliography of Articles on the History of Technical Writing
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

References (6)

  1. Labaree L. W. (1959)
    The Papers of Benjamin Franklin
  2. Smyth A. H., The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, 10 vols., Macmillan, New York, 1, p. 35, 1907.
  3. MacLaurin L. M., Franklin's Vocabulary, Doubleday, New York, p. 20, 1928.
  4. Amacher R. E., Benjamin Franklin, Twayne Publishers, Inc., New York, p. 28.
  5. Cohen B. I., Benjamin Franklin's Experiments: A New Edition of Franklin's “Experiments and Observations on El…
Show all 6 →
  1. Cohen B. I., Franklin and Newton, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, p. 73, 1956.
CrossRef global citation count: 5 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Prompt: A Journal of Academic Writing Assignments Jan 2026
    A Murder Most Technical: Gamification, AI, and Rhetorical Genre Studies in the Technical Writing Classroom ↗
    Justin Cook
    genre theory writing pedagogy service learning teacher development argument collaborative writing technical communication professional writing
  2. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Jan 2026
    LinkedIn in Business and Technical Communication: A Textbook Analysis Grounded in Digital Literacy ↗
    Sarah Moore; Kathryn Lookadoo
    modern rhetorical theory teacher development technical communication digital rhetoric social media literacy studies
  3. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Dec 2025
    Is Your Résumé/Textbook Up-To-Date? An Audit of AI ATS Résumé Instruction ↗
    Kathryn Lookadoo; Sarah Moore
    teacher development technical communication professional writing artificial intelligence
  4. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy advanced composition creative writing writing across the curriculum graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions archival research multimodality artificial intelligence literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies literary studies editorial matter
  5. Communication Design Quarterly Jun 2025
    Review of "User Experience Research and Usability of Health Information Technology by Jessica Lynn Campbell, PhD," Campbell, J. L. (2024). User Experience Research and Usability of Health Information technology. CRC Press. ↗
    Chip Warner
    teacher development technical communication digital rhetoric book reviews