"Winston" wrote in message
...
Ed Huntress wrote:

(...)

Yes! From decades of self-teaching, I can suggest my own solution: two or
three books, written by different authors, that explain the same thing in
different ways. I open them all at the same time and switch back and
forth.
This was particularly useful to me in learning semiconductor theory many
years ago, but it works for all kinds of subjects. It also helped me a
great
deal with the metallurgy of steel, which often is oversimplified until
you
can't understand what the mechanisms are.

The Web often is even better at providing multiple sources, but, as we
all
know, it can lead you down a primrose path, too.

We all appear to learn differently.

I've set up my newsgroup reader to mark the posts from select
participants like you, Ed and Pete C and Jim Wilkins, etc because
I find that I can generally understand your point effortlessly.
It almost doesn't matter what the subject is.

I find a startling qualitative difference between 'textbook'
presentation (which can be obscure *and* tiresome) and this
informal communication which I find clear and compelling.

It's frustrating because I can't reconcile the tacit goal of
the textbook with that of the newsgroup. They should both
communicate effectively but in a lot of cases I get a sense
that the textbook author is almost gleeful in his precise,
correct and totally useless presentation.

That is fascinating stuff.

--Winston

Yes, it's an interesting subject when you get into it. I edited all of my
wife's term papers when she was working on her master's degree in special
education, and that's a big topic in her line of work. It's hard for many of
us to identify with other modes of learning, but being exposed to a lot of
case histories (and her students) has given me a few surprises.

As for the writing of textbooks, I think it's the result of having
textbooks, particularly specialized ones, written by experts in their fields
who just don't have much writing experience. They tend to be pedantic,
rigorous, and jargon-filled, because they worry about sounding
"professional." Editing scientific papers written by medical doctors, my
eyes often roll back in their sockets.

Writing is like any other skill: practice, practice, practice...

--
Ed Huntress