The old adage about not judging a book by its cover certainly applies to this one (and one might add, nor by its title). Judging by its cover or title, this book would be the equivalent of a 1970s documentary: informative, maybe even interesting at times, but rather bland. But a look inside reveals a rich tapestry of vivid personal stories, deep reflections and witty summaries. There are no equations, no charts and no formal footnotes, only a brief collection of endnotes with a list of books that honestly should be required reading for a well-informed professional.
The book is based on interviews with scientists from a variety of backgrounds and industries, most of them connected in some way to optics. Many of the scientists are women; they are born in and outside the United States (some from Iran and Pakistan for example), and were educated in a dizzying number of different countries. Many are working in the San Francisco Bay area, where the author lives, but others are in Boston, USA; Boulder, CO, USA; Canada and New Zealand. This variety of demographic backgrounds parallels a variety of career paths, enough to provide the reader with several role models they might dream of following, but also with some that they would rather observe with limited interest from a distance.
The top-five lists that intersperse with the interviews are witty and deep. For example, “Knowledge isn’t power. Action based on knowledge is power,” or “Don’t look back. You aren’t going that way.” Short sections with author reflections provide connective tissue from one interview to another.
The intention of the author is to allow the reader to browse the book, or to just open it at a particular page to get a fresh perspective and a self-contained personal story with associated reflections. For those readers going back to a particular interview story, or for those who would like to read about a particular industry or company, an index of such terms would have been useful. The table of contents only lists the name of the interviewee and a descriptive title for the interview. The only helpful classification is in sectioning the interviews in the book in three areas: scientists as employees, industry partners and entrepreneurs.
It should be amply apparent by now that this is not a textbook, nor a typical reference book, but more of an oracle that might spark interest and illuminate a possible career path for a young (or young-at-heart) scientist. For those readers who think they know where they are going (career-wise), the interviews and reflections still make for fun and rewarding reading. And, who knows, they might teach an old(er) dog some new(er) tricks.
Review by Bogdan Hoanca, University of Alaska Anchorage, USA.
The opinions expressed in the book review section are those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect those of OPN or its publisher, Optica