BookNotes Series: The Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Richard Hamming | Chapter 1
TweetChapter 1 - Orientation
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Get in the habit of quick modeling to check quantitative remarks .
- You will more likely retain the results having done the calculation yourself.
- Practice making calculations and quick modeling prepare you to do the same on more important applications.
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A problem in knowledge acquisition is the rate at which new knowledge makes the old knowledge obsolete . The solution is to learn fundamentals . One can recognize fundamentals by asking:
- Have they lasted for a long time?
- Can we derive other knowledge in the field from these using standard methods in the field?
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You should try to predict the future, as much as the future is unpredictable. Because with the lifetime of many independent choices, small and large, one with a vision will get to a distance proportional to n, one without will only get to a distance √n .
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An opinion based on observations and anecdotes of people’s lives: those who aim to make significant contribution to humanity rather than just get along through life comfortably achieve the greatest total happiness in life . Struggle on your part to achieve excellence.