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“Ce fut au milieu de ces pensées généreuses, et dans cette disposition d’esprit, qu’il traversa l’Hellespont.” (“It was amidst these generous thoughts and with this mindset that he crossed the Hellespont.”)
– Maurice Druon, Alexandre le Grand (1958)
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This morning, I finished reading The Armor of Light by Ken Follett, which is the latest novel in the Kingsbridge series. I recommend the novel and I’d like to share my enthusiasm. There won’t be any spoilers in this post but there will be hints, so if you haven’t read the book and you plan to, you might as well wait before reading the post.
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During the academic job search, I was sometimes asked what my favorite paper was. I like this question because it is an invitation to discuss not just a paper but also the story behind it—most likely, a story that dives into the inevitable setbacks of doing research. The finished manuscript does not tell this story. The stumbles, the dead ends, the blunders are all distilled away to produce a carefully curated line of reasoning. Rightfully so. Still, I believe there merit in acknowledging the nonlinear paths that research follows and reflecting on the tangled, at times frustrating, at times rewarding, journey of trying over and over again to solve a problem.
Published:
During the academic job search, I was sometimes asked what my favorite paper was. I like this question because it is an invitation to discuss not just a paper but also the story behind it—most likely, a story that dives into the inevitable setbacks of doing research. The finished manuscript does not tell this story. The stumbles, the dead ends, the blunders are all distilled away to produce a carefully curated line of reasoning. Rightfully so. Still, I believe there merit in acknowledging the nonlinear paths that research follows and reflecting on the tangled, at times frustrating, at times rewarding, journey of trying over and over again to solve a problem.