Have you ever been called
to give advice to someone just starting their career?
Heck, have you ever
considered giving yourself a career checkup?
Letters
To A Young Scientist by Pulitzer Prize
winning author Edward
O. Wilson is a delight. Twenty one “letters” (actually each
is more focused than a letter, how about a great blog post?) shows
how the author got into the science business, the coming importance of science
and technology, how to work constructively, where career growth comes
from, and mathematics.
Wilson is concerned that
too many pre-scientists are scared off early by math bullies, who
convince them they don’t know, can’t know enough math to be
professional. He’s not against mathematics, just against using math
as an early disqualifying tool.
As he sees it, most of
research is data collection. After the data is collected and the
hypothesis stated, there is some room for someone with a “math toolbox” to assist. A researcher can call on just about any mathematician to
get his math.
However, a mathematician without
field data to work on is a theorist, scribbling on the white board.
Then magnanimously, Wilson
identifies the scientific fields where theoretical math is most
valuable.
I have read and watch enough
misused math to know that No
Matter How Hard You Do The Wrong Thing, It Never Quite Works.
How to
pick a career? Start
with your passion. That will make it easier
to fill in your education. Ph.D.s without a
passion have a hard road.
Don’t
be afraid to jump to a new passion when it comes along, usually as
part of investigating/developing your current passion. Hit hard
every swing. Time’s awastin’
New
work comes from what you discover in your current work, enlarging,
creating context, joining knowledge, creating new opportunities.
This
is a book that builds confidence to quit worrying and start doing.
I wish I belonged to a
book club where we could give each letter its own session. This book
is that good.
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