Science Plus Humanities Equals a Full Education

I read “It’s Not Rocket Science” (Feb. 13) with great interest. I’ve been a project manager in industry for many years, and I’ve been absolutely astounded at the complete lack of writing skills shown by many of the engineers and technicians whose memos and e-mails have crossed my desk.

One of my first work assignments out of engineering school was to take the incomprehensible, fractured-syntax, jargon-filled memos and reports that my colleagues were producing and turn them into something a normal person could understand. I couldn’t believe these guys had graduated from high school, let alone college.

A word of warning, future engineers and scientists: If you can’t convey your thoughts, verbally and in writing, your career and life choices are going to be extremely limited.

Steve Joslin

Newport Beach

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My son is a college freshman and physics major at UC Irvine; half of his classes in his first year of college have been humanities courses. The writing assignments are a challenge to him, but so are the leftist views of his humanities professors who have, for instance, compared Robespierre to Barry Goldwater. Expecting humanities professors to produce more “well-rounded” students may be expecting too much.

I majored in English as an undergraduate, but I enjoyed and appreciated my two (yes, two) required science courses. Although I frequently hear calls for science and engineering majors to become more broadly educated, I rarely hear anyone arguing that humanities majors need to better understand science and technology.

Mary Wolfinbarger

Long Beach