Mitch M’s Reviews > Letters to a Young Scientist > Status Update

Re-reading this book because my lab mates all got a copy and are talking about it.

No way, the author of this book is the same one who wrote "The Theory of Island Biogeography"? That's amazing! I love that theory! It was honestly really fun getting to read his recounting of how that theory was established and how the experiment was run. I mean they put tents over entire islands in the Florida Keys and just FUMIGATED them! Gotta love science.

A couple of good quotes from chapter 16:
"Imagine the extent of human ignorance!" p.183
"...you are needed." p. 187

"Invasive species are the second most important cause of extinctions of native species, exceeded only by the destruction of habitats through human activity." p.165
A great quote to keep in mind as I do my. Invasive species are absolutely an ecological and existential threat that could destroy the biodiversity of our planet, but it's extremely difficult to control without decades of progress in science. What do we do?

"So much has been written, yet so very little is known..." "The more you draw, the more there is to draw."

I really connected with chapter five's encourage to fantasize about science, to spend time daydreaming about it and giving yourself lectures about the important topics to reinforce this. What a cool outlook on science. I loved even more the quote later in the chapter, "... innovators in both literature and science are basically dreamers and storytellers."

Wow, I love chapter four's explanation of scientific questions, theories, facts and laws. His distinction between a theory and a fact is so important, and something that the average person often misinterprets too. A theory is not just an unfounded hypothesis, it's a well tested one supported by loads of research, but that still has the opportunity to be revised or disproven if another conclusion arises.

I'm enjoying this book so far. Lots of good advice and interesting things to think about during my studies. There were a couple of things I didn't quite agree with in chapter 3, especially the argument that if you want to find success go do research in a field that isn't popular. I just feel like that insinuates that the more popular fields of research aren't as important, which isn't true.