The warm reception to a previous post on learning to be a PhD advisor reminded me of a book, whose  title now appears as the title of this new post.  The book was written by Jack E. Oliver, a geologist, and was published in 1991 by Columbia University Press.  Looking at it again, I find the original receipt inside the book.  The receipt was dated 19 October 1991, from Chaucer's Bookstore, in Santa Barbara, where I started as an assistant professor at UCSB in 1989.  How delightful! 

Among books and essays that I have read of this kind in my formative years, Oliver's book is by far most influential.  His own career parallels the epoch in geology, during which the tectonic theory was established.  The book is about 200 page long, filled with perceptive remarks and amusing cartoons.  He also provided some background on earth science, which is interesting.  But most his ideas are applicable to any field of research.

I find it hard to encapsulate his ideas in a post, but believe that some of you might benefit from reading this book.   The book is probably out of print by now, but Amazon lists some copies from third-party sellers.  

Here are headings in Chapter 2, Strategy for Discovery:

• Don't follow the crowd
• Rebel, but wisely
• Strive to enhance serendipity
• Avoid science eddies
• Study the Earth, and the Science of Geology
• Seek the nonquestions
• See your era in long-term perspective
• Go with intuition
• Avoid sidetracking trivia
• Be competitive.  Be a winner.  Be first
• Argue by analogy
• Vision, hypothesis, and objective testing
• The strategy of exploration for understanding

The entry "Avoid science eddies" is particularly illuminating.  It might be fun to make a list of such eddies in our own discipline.  But that will be for another time.

Do you have a book of this kind to tell us about?