The Incomplete Guide to the Art of Discovery

224 Pages·1991·9.416 MB·English

by  J. E. Oliver

The Incomplete Guide
to the Art of Discovery
The Incomplete Guide to the Art of Discovery

By Jack E. Oliver
Irving Porter Church Professor Emeritus
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Cornell University

©2004 Jack E. Oliver

Originally Published by
Columbia University Press in 1991
Re-published by

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Ithaca, N.Y.
January 2004
The Incomplete Guide
to the Art of Discovery

JACK E. OLIVER

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
vi Contents
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
Contents vii
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

Preface
D,
URING my career in science, now nearly a half century in
duration, I have grown more and more aware that success in
science, paralleling success in most careers, comes not so much
to the most gifted, nor the most skillful, nor the most knowledge-
able, nor the most affluent of scientists, but rather to the supe-
rior strategist and tactician. The individual who is able to ma-
neuver with propriety through the world of science along a course
that regularly puts him or her in a position of serendipity is often
the one who excels. Consequently, I have long sought to observe
the experiences and the personal styles of successful scientists
and to identify common traits that might be acquired and used
profitably by others as they direct their careers. This book is a
summary of those observations and hence can serve as a guide
to the ambitious young scientist or student of science.
However, no matter how well we prepare and plan, no matter
how carefully we make our decisions and guide our actions, fate
still seems always to play a central role in our careers and our
lives. Often an apparently insignificant incident turns out to be
a critical step to important developments that follow. In this
preface, I relate the chain of incidents that led me to the gateway
of the world of discovery and hence ultimately to the writing of
x Preface
this book. In so doing I hope not only to set the stage for what
follows but also to set an appropriate tone of caution for a book
that purports, somewhat optimistically, to be a guide in a subject
that is never fully predictable.
In the fall of 1946, Columbia played Yale in the Yale Bowl.
During the post—World War II years, the stature and caliber of Ivy
League football was unusually high as war veterans returned to
school and reinforced the normal complement of younger ath-
letes. Stadia were filled; tickets were scalped; Ivy League teams
made headlines. The contest in New Haven was a particularly
exciting one. Yale dominated early play and led at the half by two
touchdowns, but Columbia rallied to pull ahead late in the game
and win. For me that game was especially memorable. In the last
quarter, I was able to block a Yale punt and so set up the winning
score for Columbia. It was a notable event in an athletic career
that was otherwise largely undistinguished. Long forgotten by
others, that moment of success will stand out in my memory for
life.
But strangely that unusual achievement was not the most
important thing that happened to me during that game. An
obscure event earlier began an unlikely chain of happenings that
had a far more profound effect on my life. The event set me onto
the trail of discovery in science and eventually onto the writing
of this book. Surely unnoticed by spectators, and inconsequen-
tial with regard to the outcome of the contest, the event was a
key incident in the development of my career and my life. While
blocking on one play, which as I recall was a routine plunge into
the line for little gain, I foolishly put my outstretched hand on
the turf. An opposing player promptly stepped on it—with his
cleats, of course. The injury that resulted was not crippling, but
it did require frequent application of liniment and bandage dur-
ing the following week or so. The liniment was the critical ele-
ment in what followed.
At the time, I was taking an intermediate-level course in elec-
tricity and magnetism. It was given by Professor Polykarp Kusch,
later a Nobel laureate in physics. The course was designed for,
and populated by, physics majors, of which I was one. Now it
often happens that members of a particular subset of society
develop a common social attitude toward certain matters outside
the mutual interest that defines the subset. In this manner,