This book provides young scientists, from physicists through to
sociologists, the counsel and tools that are needed to be their own
agents and planners, to survive and succeed, hopefully even thrive in
science. Making a good career based on peer-reviewed science means
navigating many stressful phases from graduate school through to
permanent employment. Performing artists pay agents to help them in this
effort. In effect, this book is designed to allow you to act as your own
agent. You are counseled to analyze yourself deeply to know clearly what
you want and whether you can live with it, how to make career choices
and what you should then keep in mind, when to fight and when to yield.
The unwritten rules of the "science game" are explained, including how
to become published and known, the pitfalls of peer review and how to
evade them, papers and posters, job interviews and getting your science
funded. Interspersed with this are illustrative anecdotes and a fair
amount of humor. While the book is aimed at young scientists, from
graduate students and beyond, more senior scientists will benefit from
seeing the world from the point of view of rising scientists and become
aware of the preoccupations of people in a system which has changed much
from when the present senior scientists were rather younger.
