There are an increasing number of books that cover communicating and many cover more than technical writing. Some of the books will give you contradictory advice. This isn't really important: What is important is that they will get you thinking about how you are writing that missive to Physical Review Letters or Nature.
In addition to books specific to technical writing, there are two books you should have on your desk (or electronically if you prefer). The first is a dictionary. It is surprising how many journal manuscripts cross my desk with misspellings and 'which' instead of 'that'.
The new author may be surprised to learn that many journal editors don't actually edit. A copy editor may fix obvious grammatical errors and ensure that your paper conforms to that journal's stylebook, but it's really up to you to produce a paper that reads well and clearly communicates your results. Invest in a copy of Elements of Style, by William Strunk and E. B. White. If you're a professor, buy a copy for each student as soon as he/she starts to even think about writing a paper. This is a concise book that focuses on the most common problems.
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