Name: The art of doing science and engineering
ISBN: 9781732265172

The art of doing science and engineering

A groundbreaking treatise by one of the great mathematicians of our age, who outlines a style of thinking by which great ideas are conceived. What inspires and spurs on a great idea? Can we train ourselves to think in a way that will enable world-changing understandings and insights to emerge? Richard Hamming said we can. He first inspired a generation of engineers, scientists, and researchers in 1986 with "You and Your Research," an electrifying sermon on why some scientists do great work, why most don't, why he did, and why you can--and should--too. The Art of Doing Science and Engineering is the full expression of what "You and Your Research" outlined. It's a book about thinking; more specifically, a style of thinking by which great ideas are conceived. The book is filled with stories of great people performing mighty deeds--but they are not meant simply to be admired. Instead, they are to be aspired to, learned from, and surpassed. Hamming consistently returns to Shannon's information theory, Einstein's theory of relativity, Grace Hopper's work on high-level programming, Kaiser's work on digital filters, and his own work on error-correcting codes. He also recounts a number of his spectacular failures as clear examples of what to avoid.

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rramadassAug 2026

The above essay by OG Richard Hamming is the one to read (forget PG's essay). It is hosted in many places on the web and this is one of them.

Follow up with Hamming's classic book; The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn available here (pdf) - https://worrydream.com/refs/Hamming_1997_-_The_Art_of_Doing_... It is a very unique one-of-a-kind book which is a must read cover-to-cover.

The last chapter of the above book is You and Your Research ;-)

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SoleilAbsoluJul 2026

Richard Hamming's "The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn" is an insider's (Manhattan Project, Bell Labs) view of how computer science as we know it developed.

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SoleilAbsoluMar 2026

I will have to check that out! I also recommend reading pretty much anything by Richard Hamming, who worked closely with Shannon at Bell Labs, "The Art of Doing Science and Engineering" is especially good.

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agentultraDec 2025

Hamming was also writing from a highly privileged position. He was able to work at Bell Labs for the majority of his career. That just doesn’t exist today.

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering is a great book but it needs context. The last edition was released in 1994. Programmers had a lot of labour power back then.

Today though? The median house costs more than a third of the median income. Inflation has raised costs of living to unsustainable levels. And for programmers there have been hundreds of thousands of layoffs since 2023 and a low number of job openings.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to take what job you can get or stay in a job you don’t care for until the trade winds return.

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teleforceOct 2025

>The project, he said, was "very organic, bottom up," born from "talking over lunch or scrawling randomly on the whiteboard in the office."

Many of the breakthrough and game changing inventions were done this way with the back of the envelope discussions, the other popular example was the Ethernet network.

Some good stories of similar culture in AT&T Bell lab is well described in the Hamming's book [1].

[1] Stripe Press The Art of Doing Science and Engineering:

https://press.stripe.com/the-art-of-doing-science-and-engine...

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_boffin_Sep 2025

Have you ever checked out Richard Hamming’s book, The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn?

He also has an amazing lecture series on YouTube from the naval institute up in Monterey based off this book

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