Make Your Mark in Science: Creativity, Presenting, Publishing, and Patents, A Guide for Young Scientists [Paperback]

Claus Ascheron (Author), Angela Kickuth (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471657336 | ISBN-13: 978-0471657330 | Publication Date: December 31, 2004 | Edition: 1

This excellent guide tells graduate students and other young scientists and engineers everything they need to know to help them work creatively and communicate their achievements in oral presentations and written publications. Also addressing the topics of scientific ethics, electronic publishing, and patents, this concise but comprehensive book will help answer many of the questions faced by novice researchers, thereby making their tasks seem less intimidating.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...succeeds at its intent, which is to give good advice on basic skills necessary for a successful scientific career." (Physics Today, December 2005)

"...essential for young scientists...as well as for experienced scientists who need to improve their communication skills." (Journal of Chemical Education, September 2005)

"…a good book containing great advice on publishing and presenting scientific results, patenting scientific work, and the creative side of science." (Journal of Natural Products, August 2005)

“designed to help young scientists to communicate their scientific achievements effectively…” (Physics World, August 2005)

"…brings many important aspects of professional scientific endeavor together in one place and in an informal and understandable language…comprehensive and offers much that would be of interest…" (CHOICE, June 2005)

"A sensible, eminently readable collection of nuts-and-bolts information…gives a concise, thorough, and above all pragmatic answer to the question 'What's it really like to be a scientist?'" (E-STREAMS, May 2005)

"...an excellent and readable guide to developing the right mental attitudes to allow creativity to flourish..." (Chemistry World, Vol.2, No.4, April 2005)

From the Back Cover

A degree is not enough

Make Your Mark in Science gives the young scientist the guidance and support much needed during the challenging early years of his or her career. It helps build the skills necessary to become successful in the world of professional science by answering the often neglected but career-defining questions of:

• How do I work creatively once I have left exams and course books behind?
• How do I effectively communicate my scientific achievements in oral presentations and written publications?
• Should I protect my accomplishments with a patent and, if so, how?

Most importantly, this book shows young scientists how to develop their own optimum working habits, an essential ingredient of a successful career in science. In addition, readers will gain an understanding of the machinery of scientific publishing, including electronic publishing. The final chapter is devoted to patents, an area in which scientists frequently fail to recognize and exploit good opportunities.

The authors have taken pains to write in a simple, informal style avoiding the minor but cumbersome technical details often encountered in such guides. Nearly every graduate student and working scientist will find useful hints for improving their creativity and communicating their ideas and results effectively. With proven techniques, useful tips, and practical perspectives on building a career in science, this book will enable you, the reader, to Make Your Mark in Science.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Interscience; 1 edition (December 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471657336
• ISBN-13: 978-0471657330
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,807,440 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make Your Mark in Science, January 27, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Make Your Mark in Science: Creativity, Presenting, Publishing, and Patents, A Guide for Young Scientists (Paperback)

PHYSICS TODAY 58, 60 (2005), DECEMBER 2005

BOOK REVIEWS

Make Your Mark in Science: Creativity, Presenting, Publishing, and Patents-A Guide for Young Scientists
Claus Ascheron and Angela Kickuth

Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 2005. $29.95 paper (235 pp.). ISBN 0-471-65733-6

Make Your Mark in Science: Creativity, Presenting, Publishing, and Patents-A Guide for Young Scientists, by physicists Claus Ascheron and Angela Kickuth, is intended as a guide for young scientists who face the challenges of doing creative scientific work and producing it in concrete form. Although most of its examples are, of course, drawn from physics, the book is just as relevant to other scientific fields.
Chapters 3, 5, and 6, on scientific presentation and publishing, are quite useful. Chapter 3, on talks and posters, contains much of the advice that mentors should give to young scientists but sometimes don't, as evidenced by the poor talks and posters one can see at any meeting. Also covered in the chapter are suggestions on how to plan different types of talks for different audiences; how much detail to include (less than you think); how to make good visual aids, speak clearly, and point to the screen effectively; and how to respond to questions at the end of the talk. A section within the chapter discusses how to produce a visually appealing and informative poster. Any inexperienced scientist-and many experienced ones!-could benefit by carefully studying and applying the principles outlined in the section. Chapter 5, on writing a good paper, includes a complete set of guidelines for organizing the paper, writing clearly, and preparing good figures, tables, and reference lists. Chapter 6 covers electronic publishing, including its benefits, problems, and future. The pages of all three chapters could easily become dog-eared if placed in an office occupied by graduate students and postdocs.
The seventh and final chapter concerns the patent process and succinctly describes what may or may not be patented and how the process works in Europe and the US. The main advice running throughout the chapter is "hire a good patent attorney," which is no doubt wise.
Chapter 4, on the culture and ethics of scientific publishing, is somewhat unusual for such a book. Its contents are rarely discussed in research groups, perhaps because mentors assume the implications of publishing and ethical dilemmas and behavior are more obvious to young scientists than is truly the case. The first part of the chapter is a brief description of the different purposes of various kinds of scientific publications-general science journals like Nature, specialist journals, multiauthored books, monographs, preprints, conference proceedings, and so forth-coupled with discussions on why and when to publish. The second part, on ethics, includes an explication of the American Physical Society's "Guidelines for Professional Conduct" and a summary of several cases of scientific fraud, most notably that of Jan Hendrik Schön. Although the coverage is brief, including the culture and ethics of publishing is valuable because those are issues that young scientists are unlikely to ask their elders about.
In Chapter 2, on scientific creativity, one hopes that most students will receive guidance from their mentors on how to write a good paper, give a good talk, or produce a good patent application. However, how to become a creative scientist is much more of a mystery, even to those who have accomplished the feat. The authors discuss various "prerequisites for creative work," including diligence, curiosity, and an understanding of the foundations of the field. To foster creativity, they suggest that one work at a time of day and in a place that promotes concentration, with good lighting and fresh air; eat a healthy diet; and exercise. Readers cannot take exception to their advice. Discussions on the kinds of intelligence typically displayed by younger and older scientists, and statistics about regional differences in scientific output, complete the chapter but do nothing to guide readers.
Make Your Mark in Science largely succeeds at its intent, which is to give good advice on basic skills necessary for a successful scientific career. It is marred by mostly irrelevant illustrations, some of which are meant to be more humorous than they actually are, and by sloppy editing. For example, the lead journal of the American Physical Society is not titled Physics Review Letters. Yet such slips do not detract significantly from the book's usefulness. A good mentor might consider putting a copy in a room where graduate students and postdocs socialize or work. For students who have a negligent mentor, the book will be even more valuable.

Laurie E. McNeil
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For the VERY young scientist, July 18, 2006

By 

EE grad student (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Make Your Mark in Science: Creativity, Presenting, Publishing, and Patents, A Guide for Young Scientists (Paperback)

The noteworthy word of the title is "young." With a couple of years of grad school under my belt, I found nearly all of this material is at too introductory of a level. Most of the information here is good to know, but most of it is also so basic that you can't build a book around it. Some nuggets that you might glean here are: It is good to have your axes labeled on your graphs. It is good to have a large enough font to be read from the back of a conference hall. It is worth video taping yourself giving a talk to learn your mannerisms... All of these suggestions are useful, but none are particularly insightful.