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| Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O Wilson – review | Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O Wilson – review |
| (4 months later) | |
| Reading EO Wilson's short book of unsolicited advice, I was unfairly reminded of a parody of lifelong scientific commitment from the satirical magazine the Onion: a depressed anteater expert regretting the utter boringness of the animals and the tedium of his singular pursuit of them. It's unfair because no one on Earth knows more about ants than Wilson and he is celebratory about them. His lifelong study has unveiled hugely significant facts about the fascinating social structure of ants and life generally, and he has written beautifully about it. | Reading EO Wilson's short book of unsolicited advice, I was unfairly reminded of a parody of lifelong scientific commitment from the satirical magazine the Onion: a depressed anteater expert regretting the utter boringness of the animals and the tedium of his singular pursuit of them. It's unfair because no one on Earth knows more about ants than Wilson and he is celebratory about them. His lifelong study has unveiled hugely significant facts about the fascinating social structure of ants and life generally, and he has written beautifully about it. |
| But in this terribly frustrating book, nuggets of scientific wisdom are buried among proud, self-congratulatory, ant-based anecdotes. It might have worked as a straight autobiography of a great researcher, rather than supposed instruction to one starting out. "Hard work based on enduring passion will never fail you": an admirable sentiment concluding the first chapter, which otherwise, paradoxically, relates how effortlessly brilliant Wilson was at everything he tried. | But in this terribly frustrating book, nuggets of scientific wisdom are buried among proud, self-congratulatory, ant-based anecdotes. It might have worked as a straight autobiography of a great researcher, rather than supposed instruction to one starting out. "Hard work based on enduring passion will never fail you": an admirable sentiment concluding the first chapter, which otherwise, paradoxically, relates how effortlessly brilliant Wilson was at everything he tried. |
| Lay readers might find it heavy going. But it's not really for scientists, other than aspiring entomologists. Non-biologists will either know the general principles of the scientific method, or will not relate to the many tales of ant fieldwork, which have limited relevance to a physicist. Wilson attributes his success to ambition and the fact that he "never changed". If Francis Crick hadn't switched from the physics of viscosity to biology, he wouldn't have sussed the genetic code. | Lay readers might find it heavy going. But it's not really for scientists, other than aspiring entomologists. Non-biologists will either know the general principles of the scientific method, or will not relate to the many tales of ant fieldwork, which have limited relevance to a physicist. Wilson attributes his success to ambition and the fact that he "never changed". If Francis Crick hadn't switched from the physics of viscosity to biology, he wouldn't have sussed the genetic code. |
| My unsolicited advice: learning Chinese, or patent law, or how to mix the perfect Old Fashioned, would serve you better if you have started on the scientific pathway. Or any career, for that matter. | My unsolicited advice: learning Chinese, or patent law, or how to mix the perfect Old Fashioned, would serve you better if you have started on the scientific pathway. Or any career, for that matter. |
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