Striving, Thriving, and Conniving to Become a Successful Scientist

PsycCRITIQUES ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (33) ◽  
Author(s):  
David D. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Ian Sabroe ◽  
Phil Withington

Francis Bacon is famous today as one of the founding fathers of the so-called ‘scientific revolution’ of the seventeenth century. Although not an especially successful scientist himself, he was nevertheless the most eloquent and influential spokesperson for an approach to knowledge that promised to transform human understanding of both humanity and its relationship with the natural and social worlds. The central features of this approach, as they emerged in Bacon’s own writings and the work of his protégés and associates after 1605, are equally well known. They include the importance of experiment, observation, and a sceptical attitude towards inherited wisdom (from the ‘ancients’ in general and Aristotle in particular).


Author(s):  
Rebecca Frenz ◽  
Julien Bucher ◽  
Anja Hermann-Fankhänel

This chapter regards itself with the verification of theses by American scientist Robert Root-Bernstein who through scientific work spanning decades was able to find support for the argument that a successful scientist is more likely to have an artistic avocation than their less successful counterparts. This chapter takes a close look at three studies by Root-Bernstein and goes on to try and affirm his findings by conducting and analyzing interviews with scientists that have an artistic avocation. The results of the study show that art offers an escape for scientists to reorganize their thoughts. Further, if scientists combine the two worlds of art and science, the scientists can directly benefit from their artistic avocation for their scientific work.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document