letters to a young scientist - edward o. wilson

[...]... When was the Earth half full? Decades ago, say the experts Humanity is racing toward the wall The longer you wait to become at least semiliterate in math, the harder the language of mathematics will be to master—again the same as in verbal languages But it can be done, and at any age I speak as an authority on this subject, because I am an extreme case Having spent my pre-college years in relatively... made the discovery, a mathematician or statistician can be added as a collaborator As a researcher who has coauthored many papers with mathematicians and statisticians, I offer the following principle with confidence Let’s call it Principle Number One: It is far easier for scientists to acquire needed collaboration from mathematicians and statisticians than it is for mathematicians and statisticians... in field biology and entomology, and was allowed to make up the many gaps in general biology left from my happy days in Alabama The momentum I built up in my southern childhood and at Harvard carried through to an appointment at Harvard as assistant professor There followed more than six decades of fruitful work at this great university I’ve told you my Pushmataha -to- Harvard story not to recommend my... think logarithms are a neat way to express variables across orders of magnitude, then good for you; your capability is a comfort to me I won’t worry so much about you, at least not right away But keep in mind that a strong mathematical background does not—I repeat, does not—guarantee success in science I will return to this caveat later, so please stay focused Actually, I have a lot more to say to math... take algebra until my freshman year at the University of Alabama My student days being at the end of the Depression, algebra just wasn’t offered I finally got around to calculus as a thirty-two-year-old tenured professor at Harvard, where I sat uncomfortably in classes with undergraduate students only a bit more than half my age A couple of them were students in a course on evolutionary biology I was... close relative of Azteca alpha, still lives in Central America These ants use large quantities of pheromones, acrid-smelling terpenoids, which they release into the air to alarm nestmates whenever the colony is threatened by invaders I told Crichton that I might be able to extract remnants of the pheromone from the Azteca alpha remains, inject them into an Azteca muelleri nest, and get the alarm response... reach the Eagle rank in the Boy Scouts of America Mostly, however, I explored nearby swamps and forests, collecting ants and butterflies At home I attended to my menagerie of snakes and black widow spiders Global war meant that very few young men were available to serve as counselors at nearby Boy Scout Camp Pushmataha The recruiters, having heard of my extracurricular activities, had asked me, I assume... quickly, and before everything else remaining, to a subject that is both a vital asset for and a potential barrier to your career: mathematics, the great bugbear for many would-be scientists I mention this not to nag but to encourage and help I mean in this letter to put you at ease If you’re already well prepared—let us say you’ve picked up calculus and analytic geometry—if you like to solve puzzles, and... when she said (it is reported), “What a pity Mr Darwin doesn’t have a way to pass his time, like Mr Thackeray.” Everyone sometimes daydreams like a scientist at one level or another Ramped up and disciplined, fantasies are the fountainhead of all creative thinking Newton dreamed, Darwin dreamed, you dream The images evoked are at first vague They may shift in form and fade in and out They grow a bit firmer... something new I learned about local insects and other animals (I scored zero on plants.) The summer rolled by pleasantly for me and my small army The only thing that could interrupt this happy career was, of course, a snake I have since learned that all snake specialists, scientists and amateurs alike, apparently get bitten at least once by a venomous snake I was not to be an exception Halfway through the . through to an appointment at Harvard as assistant professor. There followed more than six decades of fruitful work at this great university. I’ve told you my Pushmataha -to- Harvard story not to. too difficult for the person who made the discovery, a mathematician or statistician can be added as a collaborator. As a researcher who has coauthored many papers with mathematicians and statisticians,. he had accumulated to conceive a process to which mathematics was later applied. An important step for you to take is to find a subject congenial to your level of mathematical competence that also