Richard Hamming: You and Your Research
Talk at Bellcore, 7 March 1986
One of the characteristics of successful scientists is having courage. Once you get your courage up and believe that you can do important problems, then you can.
people are often most productive when working conditions are bad.
Just hard work is not enough - it must be applied sensibly.
Great scientists tolerate ambiguity very well. They believe the theory enough to go ahead; they doubt it enough to notice the errors and faults so they can step forward and create the new replacement theory. If you believe too much you'll never notice the flaws; if you doubt too much you won't get started. It requires a lovely balance.
Great contributions are rarely done by adding another decimal place. It comes down to an emotional commitment.
"What important problems are you working on in your field?''
If you do not work on an important problem, it's unlikely you'll do important work. It's perfectly obvious. Great scientists have thought through, in a careful way, a number of important problems in their field, and they keep an eye on wondering how to attack them.
You should do your job in such a fashion that others can build on top of it,
It is a poor workman who blames his tools - the good man gets on with the job, given what he's got, and gets the best answer he can.
it is not sufficient to do a job, you have to sell it.
Yes, doing really first-class work, and knowing it, is as good as wine, women and song put together.
the value is in the struggle more than it is in the result.
you cannot be original in one area without having originality in others.
changed the viewpoint and what was a defect became an asset.
they don't work on important problems, they don't become emotionally involved, they don't try and change what is difficult to some other situation which is easily done but is still important, and they keep giving themselves alibis why they don't. They keep saying that it is a matter of luck.
Since from the time of Newton to now, we have come close to doubling knowledge every 17 years, more or less.