First published 2020
Richard Hamming explores how exceptional scientific discoveries emerge from specific thinking patterns. Drawing from his career at Bell Labs and teaching at the US Naval Postgraduate School, Hamming examines why some researchers achieve breakthroughs while others struggle with routine work. He analyzes Claude Shannon's information theory, Einstein's relativity work, and Grace Hopper's programming innovations alongside his own contributions to error-correcting codes. Hamming also shares his notable failures as lessons in what to avoid. Originally adapted from his Naval Postgraduate School course and first published in 1996, this edition features a new foreword by Bret Victor and over seventy updated graphs and charts. Hamming argues that creative thinking can be learned and developed, offering readers a framework for approaching scientific problems with the mindset that produces significant advances.
Genres: biography, science, non-fiction, academic
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: academic, expert
Setting: Bell Labs, Naval Postgraduate School
Period: 20th-century
398 pages · Hardcover · Stripe Press