Stop Working & Start Thinking: A Guide to Becoming a Scientist

Rating:
Summary: Buy this book, adopt this book, recommend this book!
Review: I can thoroughly recommend this small but extremely valuable book. There is a mass of literature and expertise for all the equipment, chemicals and materials students will encounter during the course of their research but there is nothing equivalent for the most important piece of equipment, the mind!

This book attempts to provide that by persuading the reader to take a step back from the humdrum or obvious and look at their projects from beginning to end, even before it is begun!

There are real-life examples (I had great fun trying out the puzzles) that encourage the ability to ask the right questions and highlight the pitfalls so often encountered in scientific investigation. You'll be amazed at what you learn and how easily you can avoid unnecessary work. By the time you have read this book you should have a great understanding of the reality of experimental investigation: from design of experiments, through analysis and interpretation of data to presentation of results.

Buy this book, adopt this book, recommend this book!