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What You Find While Cleaning Out the Office of a World-Class Researcher

scottcowley.com

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Re: What You Find While Cleaning Out the Office of a World-Class Researcher

#21

Post by drallison »

bsder wrote: post #17

I have a different take about the books. Worthwhile technical books have not been published since about 2000. Technical publishing died in the dot-bomb. The number of new technical books I bought prior to about 2005 was staggering. The number of new technical books I bought in the past 5 years borders on zero. First, the web killed a bunch of technology publishing. Buying "new" technical books rarely makes sense as t…

Amen.

I have been (and still am) an advisor to Pearson, which now includes Addison-Wesley and Prentice-Hall, ran a book series on "Innovative Technology", solicited authors, and helped get important books published. Outstanding technical books are few and far between these days. Hank Warren's Hackers Delight is one worth reading as will be the forthcoming The Programming Language Go.

There has been a corresponding erosion of the content as the number of books has decreased. In the old days, books were a primary mechanism for sharing knowledge. Today, rather than consulting a integrated linear presentation of technical material in a single (nearly) comprehensive volume, technical information is burried in papers which hide principles with details and confuse matters with non-standard terminology. It is not only the technical literature that has been degraded. Business books have become the equivalent of brain-dead landing pages where a single simple idea is presented in a verbose and focused narrative style.

Re: What You Find While Cleaning Out the Office of a World-Class Researcher

#22

Post by jlees »

oxryly1 wrote: post #16

This is interesting, but seems to end on an unfair note. Perhaps our good professor's interests and activities slowly moved in a different direction that didn't leave the same recognizable paper and object trail...

Indeed - giving talks, supervising research students, etc.

Having said that, I worked with a professor who had effectively taken the same route; his work was relevant in the eighties and hardly used since. My job was to try and reimplement his algorithms (ALGOL 68) in Java, which involved talking to him a lot to understand the work -- it felt like he was genuinely happy to have someone to talk to about it, and various departmental shifts and changes over the years had gradually disconnected him from the world, rather than his own decision to start gathering dust.

Re: What You Find While Cleaning Out the Office of a World-Class Researcher

#24

Post by yodsanklai »

This happened to me too after a "world-class researcher" from my lab retired. We received an email from the lab director telling us that everybody was invited to go pick up books in his former office. Everything left behind would be thrown away.

As expected, there were nothing of interest there. Old books and articles (I assume the best stuff was taken by other people already!). Not much to talk about really. Not different from any other researcher's office.

Actually, maybe this was the only really thing noticeable. Despite being extremely famous, his office was similar to anyone else's office.

Unlike the person mentioned in the article, he was very active and passionate research-wise until his retirement. That being said, not being active research wise doesn't mean being idle! there are lot of useful and interesting things to do for an academic that don't involve research.

Re: What You Find While Cleaning Out the Office of a World-Class Researcher

#25

Post by wmat »

Zenst wrote: post #5
wmat wrote: post #2

I love this. It describes a reality that I think exists into the present day. Regardless of our passions, real life is always there, filling ashtrays and picture frames whether you want it to or not.

Indeed and the last part "And you realize this is what happens when you keep coming to work years after you’ve mentally retired. This terrifies me." A worrying and yet some how sobering thought once you realise, we all get older, less agile physically and mentally in different ways.

It's interesting how paralysed by most people really are when it comes to pursuing whatever it is they want to pursue. And I count myself within that group; for now.

Re: What You Find While Cleaning Out the Office of a World-Class Researcher

#26

Post by wmat »

bsder wrote: post #17

I have a different take about the books. Worthwhile technical books have not been published since about 2000. Technical publishing died in the dot-bomb. The number of new technical books I bought prior to about 2005 was staggering. The number of new technical books I bought in the past 5 years borders on zero. First, the web killed a bunch of technology publishing. Buying "new" technical books rarely makes sense as t…

I miss FatBrain. That was a good online technical book store.

Re: What You Find While Cleaning Out the Office of a World-Class Researcher

#27

Post by irremediable »

Poignant, but IMO not insightful. You could interpret this any way you please.

I'm especially pissed off by the way he mentions the anti-depressant medication bottle as a sign of failure. Maybe the professor would have been far more depressed if he hadn't been working on awesome new ideas. Maybe he would have been depressed either way. How is the empty bottle a sign of failure? He sought treatment for his mental health problems. If you scorn that, you're a coward, and I attach very little weight to your opinions on how to live.

Re: What You Find While Cleaning Out the Office of a World-Class Researcher

#28

Post by monk_e_boy »

irremediable wrote: post #27

Poignant, but IMO not insightful. You could interpret this any way you please. I'm especially pissed off by the way he mentions the anti-depressant medication bottle as a sign of failure. Maybe the professor would have been far more depressed if he hadn't been working on awesome new ideas. Maybe he would have been depressed either way. How is the empty bottle a sign of failure? He sought treatment for his mental heal…

I didn't read that as a sign of failure. I thought the author hit the nail on the head - they guy achieved more than us, but spent his latter years just cruising. I didn't read any malice into it, more a whimsical melancholy.

If I ever get an office (99% unlikely) I'm sure it will be the same as my cubicle. A photo of the wife and kids, my coffee mug, some hidden postits with passwords on... I mean, who gives a shit? It's space to work after all, nothing more.

Re: What You Find While Cleaning Out the Office of a World-Class Researcher

#29

Post by crimsonalucard »

astrocyte wrote: post #11
crimsonalucard wrote: post #7

The inevitable reality of life. Most of us will end up this way. Rather then trying to change the universe, I say it's better to enjoy the experience.

Some strive to understand it and share their understanding of the world with others. It is often a lonely path and those who take on this challenge should be celebrated whether or not great contributions stem from it. After-all, many great technologies you enjoy and use to 'enjoy your experience'derive from it. If everyone partied and enjoyed their experience, it is questionable whether we'd still be around as a huma…

I think the enjoying the experience is the road less traveled. Most people I know live the 9-5 grind.

Re: What You Find While Cleaning Out the Office of a World-Class Researcher

#30

Post by prestonbriggs »

drallison wrote: post #21
bsder wrote: post #17

I have a different take about the books. Worthwhile technical books have not been published since about 2000. Technical publishing died in the dot-bomb. The number of new technical books I bought prior to about 2005 was staggering. The number of new technical books I bought in the past 5 years borders on zero. First, the web killed a bunch of technology publishing. Buying "new" technical books rarely makes sense as t…

Amen. I have been (and still am) an advisor to Pearson, which now includes Addison-Wesley and Prentice-Hall, ran a book series on "Innovative Technology", solicited authors, and helped get important books published. Outstanding technical books are few and far between these days. Hank Warren's Hackers Delight is one worth reading as will be the forthcoming The Programming Language Go . There has been a corresponding e…

Hi Dennis. Yes, and hooray for Hacker's Delight!

I recently had occasion to reread one of Kernighan's older books and you remind me that I'll probably enjoy the Go book too.

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