How does science get done? In many ways — experimenting, theorizing, testing, observing. But good science also comes from lots and lots of talking.

At conferences, in journals, in hallways, at seminars, with patients, in classrooms and labs, over coffee, through e-mail and shared citation lists and phone calls.

The “community of scientists” can be very much like a family — you work together for a while before some family members go to other places and work with other scientists; some members of the family support you while others stop speaking to you; and so forth.

There are many accounts of life in labs and in the field, in hospitals, at universities, and at companies, which weave the stories of how scientists communicate, discover and observe, communicate some more, and keep building on what they’ve learned, both on their own and from others.

Read the inside stories about how science gets done in these engrossing tales:

For more of the “inside stories” about how science gets done, you should also read Hidden Figures: the American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race (the movie based on the book is in theaters now) and The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars.

 

 


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