
What You Find While Cleaning Out the Office of a World-Class Researcher - scottcowley
http://www.scottcowley.com/blog/what-you-find-while-cleaning-out-the-office-of-a-world-class-researcher
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bsder
I have a different take about the books.

Worthwhile technical books have not been published since about 2000.

Technical publishing died in the dot-bomb. The number of new technical books I
bought prior to about 2005 was staggering. The number of new technical books I
bought in the past 5 years borders on zero.

First, the web killed a bunch of technology publishing. Buying "new" technical
books rarely makes sense as the target is probably moving too quickly and the
web will be more accurate. So, the only "new", worthwhile technical books are
covering more timeless fundamentals, and we probably already have good books
for those.

Second, the attitudes of modern youngsters are a bit of an issue. "If it isn't
on the web, it doesn't exist." Well, there was a whole lot of history prior to
2000, but none of you know how to find it. That's why you all keep making the
same mistakes.

Third, technical books got ferociously expensive. Most technical books that
are covering something semi-cutting edge are almost $200.

Fourth, there are no outlets for technical books to be browsed. Amazon killed
all the technical bookstores because it wasn't paying sales tax. If I can't
browse a book, I'm certainly not paying $200 for it.

So, while this might be an office of someone who checked out 15 years ago, the
lack of books later than 2000 isn't good evidence.

~~~
drallison
Amen.

I have been (and still am) an advisor to Pearson, which now includes Addison-
Wesley and Prentice-Hall, ran a book series on "Innovative Technology",
solicited authors, and helped get important books published. Outstanding
technical books are few and far between these days. Hank Warren's _Hackers
Delight_ is one worth reading as will be the forthcoming _The Programming
Language Go_.

There has been a corresponding erosion of the content as the number of books
has decreased. In the old days, books were a primary mechanism for sharing
knowledge. Today, rather than consulting a integrated linear presentation of
technical material in a single (nearly) comprehensive volume, technical
information is burried in papers which hide principles with details and
confuse matters with non-standard terminology. It is not only the technical
literature that has been degraded. Business books have become the equivalent
of brain-dead landing pages where a single simple idea is presented in a
verbose and focused narrative style.

~~~
prestonbriggs
Hi Dennis. Yes, and hooray for Hacker's Delight!

I recently had occasion to reread one of Kernighan's older books and you
remind me that I'll probably enjoy the Go book too.

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mc32
I think it's better to review a life or career as a whole rather than parse it
and assign some sentimentality to the different aspects. In other words, so he
or she may have 'mentally retired' but don't count that against anyone. It's
not like were supposed to live full bore till you keel over. Maybe they called
it in. Never the less they did accomplish something -more than many. That's
not something to feel sorry about.

These are, after all, just people. People the same as the homeless or the
newborn. Queer as folk, as they say. We're just folk. A bit strange but folk
none the less.

------
astrocyte
It would appear that people take away what they want from an experience..
Defined as the subjective experience.

There are many other views ..

> I may take over this guy's office and leave behind the same stuff he did,
> albeit newer versions, and never accomplish a fourth of what he did

> Even though he was passionate about what he did, he still had important
> things outside of it like a beautiful family

> People go through things in life. Yet, they carry on.

> Form and function... Function being the same, what is really changing?

> I will never truly know a person's story until I take the time to hear it
> from them.. Otherwise, I'm likely making up my own story that confirms with
> my own beliefs.

The author of the article has fears most of all and he molded what was left in
the office to conform to those fears.

Whose to say what mental toll great accomplishments take... If it takes you 50
years to create what one man did in 5, who are you to comment on 'coming' to
work for the remaining 45? All things being considered, in the aforementioned
example, at least his work had 45 years to be shared and built upon. What of a
person who takes 50?

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breischl
What people leave behind is the things that don't matter anymore. I've walked
out of offices with all my recent/relevant possessions, leaving behind nothing
but books about fancy new technology like DHTML and ASP.NET v1.1. Most likely
the professor took all the more recent stuff with him, and left behind all the
decades-outdated research and technology because he didn't want the hassle of
moving all of it just so he could dispose of it.

That said, maybe he was phoning it in for years. That would be sad, because
it's a waste of time and life.

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lifeisstillgood
Don't be terrified. I suspect that once your professor had nothin left to
prove, other things started to become more important - ground breaking happens
when you walk where no one else has, even if that's not leading anywhere but
home.

Perhaps the best research we can do is about us and our loved ones.

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wmat
I love this. It describes a reality that I think exists into the present day.
Regardless of our passions, real life is always there, filling ashtrays and
picture frames whether you want it to or not.

~~~
Zenst
Indeed and the last part "And you realize this is what happens when you keep
coming to work years after you’ve mentally retired. This terrifies me." A
worrying and yet some how sobering thought once you realise, we all get older,
less agile physically and mentally in different ways.

~~~
wmat
It's interesting how paralysed by <insert reason here> most people really are
when it comes to pursuing whatever it is they want to pursue. And I count
myself within that group; for now.

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oxryly1
This is interesting, but seems to end on an unfair note. Perhaps our good
professor's interests and activities slowly moved in a different direction
that didn't leave the same recognizable paper and object trail...

~~~
jlees
Indeed - giving talks, supervising research students, etc.

Having said that, I worked with a professor who had effectively taken the same
route; his work was relevant in the eighties and hardly used since. My job was
to try and reimplement his algorithms (ALGOL 68) in Java, which involved
talking to him a lot to understand the work -- it felt like he was genuinely
happy to have someone to talk to about it, and various departmental shifts and
changes over the years had gradually disconnected him from the world, rather
than his own decision to start gathering dust.

------
ternaryoperator
The conclusions of this article seem wrong. What the author is seeing are the
books the ex-academic _left behind_. Surely, he took the good ones with him.
In fact, he likely took all the things he wanted to keep and left this stuff,
which the author deems significant, because he didn't want it.

------
slowernet
The office holder had a long, accomplished career, but the author, bummed that
he can't find any up to date books to steal from the office, is calling him
out for phoning it in because he accumulated some junk over the years and went
through a tough time when he lost a child.

Pardon me if I'm not dying to hear the insights this experience triggered for
you.

~~~
CodingCat
insightful....:)

------
fragsworth
This is incredibly depressing. I hope I stay active and relevant, well into my
old age.

~~~
dj-wonk
I'm not sure how one writes an upbeat article about cleaning out an office. :)
A career is (or at least should be) much more than artifacts left behind.

~~~
wnissen
Yeah, what would really be depressing is if we were ranked based on the
artifacts instead of the impact. It's really hard to tell from the plaques and
detritus who was out there providing the shoulders for others to stand on.

------
Jugurtha
Everything in the post almost _exactly_ matches. The only things that don't
match are the fridge and the ashtray.

I was like a scavenger roaming in the dark faculties. The best were Physics
and Electrical Engineering faculties, and the labs of few of our Maths Profs
(I had the ones who wrote our textbooks for Electricity and I'd press them to
give me some stuff they had (usually unpublished for personal use). I had few
gems along the way.

I've found a lot of stuff and was often burried in the pile they just put next
to the appropriate lab's door. It gave a glimpse on where the labs were
coming, what was their focus at a given period, what were they working on,
thesis titles, how students prepared them, what did they use to produce it,
which languages, etc. These things aren't online or in a database.

I still have most of my stuff from college. There's a bunch of things that are
cool(the course in 4th year on Control Theory for example: information that
_quickly_ gets you to speed on RST digital controllers, Pontryagin, Bellman is
pretty scarce). I wasn't in good terms with the Prof, but boy she had a great
course.

So I appreciate what I find looking in those dusty places.

------
crimsonalucard
The inevitable reality of life. Most of us will end up this way.

Rather then trying to change the universe, I say it's better to enjoy the
experience.

~~~
astrocyte
Some strive to understand it and share their understanding of the world with
others. It is often a lonely path and those who take on this challenge should
be celebrated whether or not great contributions stem from it. After-all, many
great technologies you enjoy and use to 'enjoy your experience'derive from it.
If everyone partied and enjoyed their experience, it is questionable whether
we'd still be around as a human race. And lastly, some people enjoy their
pursuits.

~~~
crimsonalucard
I think the enjoying the experience is the road less traveled. Most people I
know live the 9-5 grind.

------
yodsanklai
This happened to me too after a "world-class researcher" from my lab retired.
We received an email from the lab director telling us that everybody was
invited to go pick up books in his former office. Everything left behind would
be thrown away.

As expected, there were nothing of interest there. Old books and articles (I
assume the best stuff was taken by other people already!). Not much to talk
about really. Not different from any other researcher's office.

Actually, maybe this was the only really thing noticeable. Despite being
extremely famous, his office was similar to anyone else's office.

Unlike the person mentioned in the article, he was very active and passionate
research-wise until his retirement. That being said, not being active research
wise doesn't mean being idle! there are lot of useful and interesting things
to do for an academic that don't involve research.

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irremediable
Poignant, but IMO not insightful. You could interpret this any way you please.

I'm especially pissed off by the way he mentions the anti-depressant
medication bottle as a sign of failure. Maybe the professor would have been
far more depressed if he hadn't been working on awesome new ideas. Maybe he
would have been depressed either way. How is the empty bottle a sign of
failure? He sought treatment for his mental health problems. If you scorn
that, you're a coward, and I attach very little weight to your opinions on how
to live.

~~~
monk_e_boy
I didn't read that as a sign of failure. I thought the author hit the nail on
the head - they guy achieved more than us, but spent his latter years just
cruising. I didn't read any malice into it, more a whimsical melancholy.

If I ever get an office (99% unlikely) I'm sure it will be the same as my
cubicle. A photo of the wife and kids, my coffee mug, some hidden postits with
passwords on... I mean, who gives a shit? It's space to work after all,
nothing more.

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et2o
"[...] And you find an empty bottle of anti-depressants.

And you realize this is what happens when you keep coming to work years after
you’ve mentally retired. This terrifies me."

I may perhaps be overly sensitive to this, but this juxtaposition makes me a
little uncomfortable.

------
digikata
Hmm, sometime in the last decade, I started shifting any remaining 'book'
consumption for technical literature purchases to ebooks. They take up less
space and are portable between home/office, are searchable... etc.

------
shard
Maybe he moved his life online? I have slowly stopped buying books, CDs, DVDs,
photo prints after the early 2000s. I don't think it's that uncommon...

