Engineering Text Book for Undergrads
Below is an email exchange I’ve had with an author. It will be a while until the book is published, but it will be text for undergrad engineering student. I am pretty excited; because these are the people we are trying to hard to reach. This is (I think) the 6th book we have consulted on. Usually the texts are connected to NanoTech, so it’s nice to be noticed in the field we actually care about. 
This is an email thread of several conversations (many of the earlier ones have been snipped), and the original image in question. This all started from an image on wikipedia, and how it was ‘pretty’ but ‘wrong’ and outdated.
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or, maybe i am a little sensitive, because i have been fighting this battle for 5 years, and usually, when people use these words, – in print – they actually mean outlandish and crazy. i think its easier to hear the tone, aurally, but less obvious in text. believe me, we have our fair share of folks that think what we are doing is a waste of time, talent, and treasure. so, no, it wasnt clear (to me) that you were being ironic.
and 4-6 weeks is loads of time, nyein can probably have what you need in 2-3. he will send a few rough sketches, just line drawings, first. then once youve settled on a concept, he can fill it in, and make it dazzling. alright?
take care. mjl
On May 16, 2007, at 7:39 AM, (snip) wrote:
Hmm. If you misread it then I need to do something to make it clear it is ironic.
Melody, I think we have plenty of time — a month or 6 weeks?
– David
david,
wow, i completely mis-read your intentions with the comments of ‘crazy’ and ‘outlandish’. thanks for clearing that up.
o.k, we can come up with a drawing that fits your needs – one that is inclusive of the lifter, ribbon, and the liftport ocean platform.
and yes, i think your text-book to future engineers could be a powerful influince on the kinds of people we will need to work on this project someday, so thanks for your help!
so, our artist, nyein, can start tackling something for you. what is your deadline? he is also a full-time student, and is in finals/papers/moving weeks in school right now. so he is a little busy. but if you can hang on a little bit, i am sure we can get something that will ‘fit’ what you are looking for.
nyein,
originally, david had asked for one of the ‘shane kilduff’ “utopian elevator” images with the sailboat and the tall tower. i asked him to not use that image, because it was so ‘wrong’. my hunch is that one of the reasons he likes it, is because it is so ‘pretty’. its inspiring, thinking about what this thing that we are building will become. can you please tackle an image for us, that incorporates what we now know about the lifter, ribbon, and liftport, into an image that is emotionally appealing to his students – one that ‘just makes sense’ when you look at it? simple, right?
take care guys.
and david, if you need anything else, please, let me know. and feel free to call, if you just want to chat.
mjl
On May 15, 2007, at 8:31 PM, (snip) wrote:
Thanks so much for your reply. In this engineering writing handbook, I wanted to inject lots of interesting new still in-development technology. Your project is fascinating to me. I’m not skeptical about your project at all: that comment in the text is a rhetorical tease to induce readers TO take the project seriously — as indeed they will if they do any reading about it at all.
The reason I like the original drawing is that it shows everything in context: the water, the base station, the climber vehicle, the ribbon (forgive me if I don’t have the terms right). For people who’ve never heard of the idea, it makes immediate intuitive sense.
As for the other images, you have to know something about the idea; otherwise the images are puzzling. For example, I had to ponder this image for some time before I “got it”:
(snipped his company ftp server info)
This next one is nice and engineery looking, but I’m embarassed not to be sure whether it’s the portion that sits in the water or the part that climbs heavenward:
(snipped again – i had sent him several images of our current designs. i guess they were not very clear to him. and without a better understanding of the project, i can see where the confusion comes from.)
I certainly sympathize with your desire to get this whole project out of the science-fiction realm and to have it viewed as a real and coming thing. I would like my book, in whatever small way, to contribute to the project and to your own success.
Remember that this book is for college kids: I think they need something more generalized, contextualized, intuitive–at least in this point in history, don’t you? Any chance your artists could create an update of the original I was wanting to use?
– David
hi,
i think the book is a great idea. and i think using the SE as a brainstorming tool is terrific. we actually go through a similar process, and have regular brainstorming sessions.
On May 15, 2007, at 7:25 AM, (snip) wrote:
Hello, Michael Laine. I’m the author of that book who wants to use text and images about the space elevator.
Actually, I’m not an engineer — just a writing teacher.
i’m not either. i leave that to the ‘really’ smart guys. i am a biz-dev/finance guy. but ive learned a lot in the past 5 years!
Thanks for working with Melody to help us understand how the text needs revision. I will make these changes and send the revised text to you if you want to check it.
thanks. i’d like to see the final edits.
below, i have taken your text, and made some notes/comments. you are free to use them or not. its not a ‘condition’ of using the image, that i get to edit your book. the notes are simply for your consideration. but i would like a chance to talk to you about this, and some other things we are doing. my guess is that you would be both interested and curious.
As for the images, apart from the datedness of the image I wanted to use, I still like it best because it shows everything (true, except the thing crawls up) in context. I went to liftport.com and searched about for a composite image like that but couldn’t find anything that generalized.
we have a great artist. we can make something if you like (depending on your deadline). let me know, specifically, what you are looking for.
size, DPI, contents/subject of the image? we have a bunch of stuff that hasnt been posted, too. i am sure we can find something, or make something that will fit your requirements.
How horribly technologically engineeringly offbase is that original drawing (which I’ve attached)? Might you able to find some other or
point me in some direction?
this image is ‘pretty’, but there is absoultly nothing ‘real’ about it. and since we are trying to get away from the science-fiction stereotype, and trying to portray this as an actual engineering project, it would help us if worked with us to find an image that suited both our needs. from reading your text, i suspect that you are skeptical of the project. that’s alright. we are skeptics too… but so far, we havent found anything that is a ‘show-stopper’, so we continue.
so, tell me what you are trying to convey, and i will help you achieve it – even it its a skeptical perspective. the reason why i am willing to help someone who thinks the project is ‘outlandish’, is because this page is about brainstorming, and not prejudging the idea or content. i think that if your students take a while to think through the questions youve posted, they will come to their own conclusions. one thing that has always concerned me, about the popular media that we wind up in, is that they leave out some important details. one thing i ALWAYS tell the press (that they usually edit out, because it doesnt make as ‘entertaining’ a story) is that “we dont even have all the questions, let alone all the answers…” so, i love that we are the example of your brainstorming topic. i think that’s great.
so, lets figure out what you need, and how we can help.
my phone is (snip).
and thanks for your interest in our project – even if it is “such a crazy idea”.
take care. mjl
comments on your text follow, marked with *
and i will blog this response. (editing out your textbook text, and identifying marks, and earlier messages.)
because his book is copywritten, (or will be, it’s not published yet. heck, they have not finished the writing/editing yet…) so i am not able to post the text that he uses in reference to the space elevator. but it is pretty fun stuff, near the front of the book, in a chapter dealing with ‘brainstorming’. i think that is a really appropriate section of an engineering text to put our space elevator. i have to cut out the text of the book, but i hope you can read between the lines, and that my comments below make sense.
Brainstorming (big snip)
* we use this technique extensively. we spend a lot of time in brainstorming sessions. and it often helps to have an artist in the room, to help the team visualize a concept. but we really push for quantity over quality in these meetings. and we invite many people on the team to these sessions – admin assists, accounting, marketing – not just engineers. because while these inputs dont usually bear fruit, they change the conversation/context enough that people come out with ‘out of the box’ solutions. the ‘liftport ship’ (the anchor station at the bottom) was redesigned because of a conversation regarding a football stadium and its movable roof… you never know where a good idea will come from.
(big snip) outlandish…
(the context was that he was calling the project outlandish… so i wanted to frame the conversation in a more attractive light. i suggested alternate adjectives like…)
* unexpected, unusual, surprising, eye-popping, challenging, revolutionary, ‘not-impossible’
(small snip) form of physical ladder or cable to get vehicles…
*’ribbon’ please, instead of ladder, cable or tether. each of these 4 are somewhat correct, but ‘ribbon’ is the closest. and the vehicle is called a ‘lifter’.
(snipped a section talking about school assignments and research projects)
* you dont know this, but we have about 60+ university groups involved so far, and we are looking for more. students and professors working on different parts of this project are critical. we can not build this thing without help, and we have so much to learn. (big snip)
* once the rebuilt website is built, i’d be happy to give you a tour, and hopefully you will see that this is not quite such an ‘outlandish’ concept. and you will be invited to contribute your skepticism, and ask the important questions… and if we can’t answer the questions, then we shouldn’t be building it in the first place.
…interest in such a crazy idea?
* if you are serious about ‘not criticizing’ ideas during the brainstorming process, is it fair that you cast this project in a negative light, with the framework of ‘crazy’? words that i think would be good replacements would include: surprising, unusual, new, unexpected, outrageous, revolutionary. the list of alternative adjectives that are neither negative nor positive, but neutral, is pretty long. please reconsider your word choice. it is already hard enough to build this thing, without having an engineering text – which will teach the people we need to hire – that the idea is ‘crazy’. if YOU think it’s crazy, fine, i can accept that. but i would appreciate it, if you would let the students make up their own minds.
if i can help in any way – and didnt irritate you, with my comments/suggestions – i would really like to continue our conversation over the phone. i think what you are doing is terrific, and when its all said and done, i’d really like to get a copy of the finished book.
take care – and again – thanks for your interest in our project. i am glad that you chose it as your example for brainstorming. i think that is very appropriate.
mjl
Michael J. Laine
President
LiftPort Group
245 4th Street
Suite 508
Bremerton WA, 98337
360-377-0623
www.liftport.com
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