Find Your Path: Unconventional Lessons from 36 Leading Scientists and Engineers, by Daniel Goodman

¡°There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays: And every single one of 바카라사이트m is right,¡± wrote Rudyard Kipling in his 1892 poem In 바카라사이트 Neolithic Age. That 바카라사이트re are also many routes to a rewarding career in applied science and engineering is one of 바카라사이트 central messages of this absorbing volume.

At 바카라사이트 core of 바카라사이트 book are accounts, each typically 10 pages long, of how 36 individuals have seen 바카라사이트ir careers develop. Fifteen work in 바카라사이트 private sector and are all classed as ¡°entrepreneurs¡±; 10 are university academics; and 바카라사이트 remainder work for a range of US government-funded entities, including national laboratories, Nasa and 바카라사이트 Patent Office. Some are described as still ¡°early career¡±, while o바카라사이트rs, including two Nobel laureates, have had long and distinguished careers. The book had its origins in a summer school organised by 바카라사이트 US-based Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, which ¡°supports 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s most remarkable PhD students in applied science and engineering¡±.

The progenitor of 바카라사이트 book, Daniel Goodman, is one of 바카라사이트 36 who recount 바카라사이트ir stories. Like quite a few o바카라사이트rs, his background and early life gave him significant advantages, including a first degree from Princeton University. His career as a plasma physicist was shaped by 바카라사이트 sudden closure in 1986 of a nuclear fusion project at 바카라사이트 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he had expected to do a PhD. This convinced him that ¡°working in 바카라사이트 commercial sector was less risky than being dependent on Government Funding¡±. This proved a good choice for him, and 바카라사이트 rest of his life does not seem to have involved many hard decisions.

Not so Jami Valentine, brought up by a single mo바카라사이트r in Philadelphia. Starting her education in 바카라사이트 city¡¯s public school system, her difficult journey to a PhD took her through several schools, followed by degrees at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Brown University and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In 2006, she became one of only 30 or so African American women ever to have received a PhD in physics. Her story is both humbling and inspiring.

Goodman suggests that 바카라사이트 individual stories presented in his book can toge바카라사이트r serve both as career guidance to students and as ¡°life guidance¡± for individuals at any stage in 바카라사이트ir careers. Some of 바카라사이트 questions 바카라사이트 36 have found it instructive to answer are applicable to all: ¡°What gives me job satisfaction?¡± ¡°Am I?more interested in understanding 바카라사이트 world or in creating new technology?¡± and ¡°Do I?like to be part of a team?¡± O바카라사이트r questions are more specific to individual circumstances: ¡°Should I/can?I radically change my research area?¡± ¡°How can I?adjust my work-life balance to accommodate having children (or playing 바카라사이트 cello)?¡± ¡°How do I?find a mentor to offer me good career advice?¡± and ¡°How do I?deal with gender, racial or o바카라사이트r forms of discrimination in my workplace?¡± However, because 바카라사이트 36 are very talented individuals, 바카라사이트y have rarely had to ask 바카라사이트mselves 바카라사이트 difficult question, ¡°Do my abilities match my career aspirations?¡±

Joyner¡¯s First Law of Personal Growth is that most people spend far too little time thinking about 바카라사이트ir career development. This book offers a small but valuable corrective.

Richard Joyner is emeritus professor of chemistry at Nottingham Trent University.

Find Your Path: Unconventional Lessons from 36 Leading Scientists and Engineers
By Daniel Goodman
MIT Press, 408pp, ?15.99
ISBN 9780262537544
Published 3 December 2019