Book Blurbs

“We could cite dozens of classic examples of modest beginnings…Enthusiasm and perseverance work miracles. It is the exception when an inexperienced investigator succeeds in launching his career with a memorable scientific achievement from a luxurious and well-appointed laboratory maintained by the state. From the point of view of actual success, it is not the instruments that are costly and require the most time, work, and patience…it is the development and maturing of talent. At the very worst, limited means condemn us to limit our inital steps, to narrow the scope of investigation. But after all, isn’t this an advantage?” (p. 94-95)

“Finally, when we discover ourselves surrounded by a number of equally promising and fertile problems to work on, choose the one whose methodology we understand clearly, and the one we have a decided liking for. This is the good advice Darwin used to give his students when they asked for a problem to work on. The rationale for this approach is that our intellect redoubles its efforts when perceiving the reward of please or utility in the distance.” (p. 72)

“Like unmolded steel, our mind represents a potential sword. The forging and polishing of study transform it into the tempered and keen scalpel of science. Let us have a cutting edge on only one side, or on two at the most, if we want to conserve its analytical powers and penetrate to the heart of problems. Leave to the scatterbrained encyclopedists the privilege of transforming their minds into dull weapons.” (p. 58)