What do you think?
Rate this book
Essential Errors: 21 Confessions of an Old Fool
This is a short autobiographical pamphlet written by a senior physicist and sprinkled with quotes from wiser people’s writings.
From the Preface:
When I was young, my father – a talented engineer and a caring but austere parent – liked to remind me of the old proverb,
Wise people learn by others’ mistakes, fools by their own, and complete idiots do not learn even by their own blunders.
He accompanied each reminder with the same
It doesn’t look like you have a chance to reach the first of these categories. So, try to cling to the second of them as much as you can, making every effort not to slip into the last one.
I tried to follow his advice all my life but with very questionable success. Now rather old, I have compiled a list of the major errors I had made through these years. I am publishing this list now to give the reader a chance to laugh at my mistakes and decide which category I fit in each of the described matters. (Just for fun, you may like to record your grades and then go to to compare them with those posted by other readers.)
But my main hope is that some young readers wiser than I was might use these notes to avoid at least some of the listed errors, thus making their claim for the top category.
About the author:
The author is a senior scientist/engineer, with nearly a dozen published monographs and textbooks on top of 350+ other research publications under his belt. Born in Moscow, Russia (then a part of the Soviet Union), he lived and worked there until the early 1990s when he moved to the United States to join the faculty of a major research university. He is a Fellow (honorary member) of the American Physical Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
From the Preface:
When I was young, my father – a talented engineer and a caring but austere parent – liked to remind me of the old proverb,
Wise people learn by others’ mistakes, fools by their own, and complete idiots do not learn even by their own blunders.
He accompanied each reminder with the same
It doesn’t look like you have a chance to reach the first of these categories. So, try to cling to the second of them as much as you can, making every effort not to slip into the last one.
I tried to follow his advice all my life but with very questionable success. Now rather old, I have compiled a list of the major errors I had made through these years. I am publishing this list now to give the reader a chance to laugh at my mistakes and decide which category I fit in each of the described matters. (Just for fun, you may like to record your grades and then go to to compare them with those posted by other readers.)
But my main hope is that some young readers wiser than I was might use these notes to avoid at least some of the listed errors, thus making their claim for the top category.
About the author:
The author is a senior scientist/engineer, with nearly a dozen published monographs and textbooks on top of 350+ other research publications under his belt. Born in Moscow, Russia (then a part of the Soviet Union), he lived and worked there until the early 1990s when he moved to the United States to join the faculty of a major research university. He is a Fellow (honorary member) of the American Physical Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
33 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 15, 2021
83 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 28, 2022
Maybe my sense of humor and the author’s are a mismatch but the book seemed essential pointless. I’ll not even sure if he meant to be humorous.
It was a waste of time but at least the book was very short.
It was a waste of time but at least the book was very short.
May 25, 2024
Not a fool
It is always worthwhile to examine ones life. This is the work .theof a good decent man. Maybe he left out a worse error. If I made a similar and complete effort it would cause many more shudders and freakouts
It is always worthwhile to examine ones life. This is the work .theof a good decent man. Maybe he left out a worse error. If I made a similar and complete effort it would cause many more shudders and freakouts
Read
July 3, 2022fun, short
November 3, 2022
Very interesting perspective
I related a lot of my own dilemmas to what the author has described, so learnt a few good things from this brief book. Thanks!!
I related a lot of my own dilemmas to what the author has described, so learnt a few good things from this brief book. Thanks!!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews