Integrating multidisciplinary perspectives on the relation of rhetoric, science, technology and public policy-making to the process and product of technical communication, this textbook reformulates the issues raised by science and technology studies (STS) within the context of technical communication. The first part of the book provides a summary, critique and alternative to recent theoretical perspectives developed in the rhetoric of science and the sociology of scientific knowledge. Part Two applies these critical alternatives to the traditional practices of scientific and technical communication. The final part demonstrates how these new practices can be applied to the communication vital in forming national and local science and technology policy.