The Incomplete Guide to the Art of Discovery

Contents

PREFACE iX

1. About Discovery 1 /

Purpose and Scope 2 / The Joy of Discovery 7 / Importance to Society 8 / An Art and a Science 9 / Intended Audience 11 / The Organization of What Follows 12 / A Little Background in Earth Science 13

2. Strategy for Discovery 31 /

Don't Follow the Crowd 32 / Rebel, but Wisely 35 / Strive to Enhance Serendipity 37 / Avoid Science Eddies 39 / Study the Earth, and the Science of Geology 41 / Seek the Nonquestions 43 / See Your Era in Long-Term Perspective 46 / Go with Intuition 48 / Avoid Sidetracking to Trivia 52 / Be Competitive, Be a Winner, Be First 54 / Argue by Analogy 57 / Vision, Hypotheses, and Objective Testing 59 / The Strategy of Exploration for Understanding 62

3. Tactics for Discovery 66 /

Adapt and Adopt Instruments and Techniques 66 / Skim the Cream 69 / Minimize Jargon 71 / Speak (Listen) to the Earth, and It Shall Teach Thee 72 / Go for the Spatial Pattern 78 / How to Choose a Graduate School 81 / Skim the Rest of the Volume, Any Volume 84 / Do It Yourself 86 / The Knack of the Fresh Perspective 87 / Choose Your Problem Very Carefully 89 / The Curve of Discovery 92 / Overcoming the "Terminal" Paper 93

4. Personal Traits and Attitudes for Discoverers 97 /

Never Confuse Sophistication with Understanding 98 / Enjoy the Struggle, Not the Spoils 100 / Never Fully Accept Any Hypothesis, Theory, Law, or Doctrine 103 / Respect, Not Reverence 105 / Let's Hear It for Enthusiasm 108 / There Is No Limit to What You Can Accomplish if Someone Else Gets the Credit 110 / Humility Leads to Discovery 110 / Audacity Leads to Discovery 113 / Be Optimistic, at Least Secretly 115 / Avoid All Pretense 116 / Remember a Scientist's Debt to Society 118 / Dream a Little, or a Lot 121 / Occasionally, Think Like a Child 122 / Work Hard, Then Harder 124 / Some Characteristics of an Innovator 125

5. Caveats 127 /

Beware of Indoctrination 127 / Beware of Occam's Razor 129 / Beware of Classification Schemes 133

6. A Few Views and Comments on Science 136 /

How, Not Why 137 / A Science Among the Sciences 139 / Will Science Stifle Itself? 143 / The Discoverers and the Do-It-Righters 146 / Big Science Vs. Little Science, The Wrong Focus 149 / The Fundamental Conflict Between Bureaucracy and Science 152 / The Joy and the Perils of Success 155 / Youth and Age 156 / There Is Only One Earth 159 / How to Recognize an Important Contribution to Science 160 / How to Recognize That You Have Made an Important Discovery 163 / Major Discoveries Are Not Made Democratically 164

7. The Inside Story of One Discovery 167

8. Closing Remarks 187

POSTSCRIPT 193

REFERENCES 197

INDEX 199