Don't Become a Scientist (1999)

The only thing missing is that the grants administrators are very often (I can think of two, dear to me counterexamples) people who got into science and couldn't hack it, making for sort of a bureaucratic dunning-kruger effect. I remember meeting DOE bureaucrats coming to visit our site, and being in awe at their complete lack of basic scientific concepts, and thinking, "these idiots probably get paid six figures to sit around pushing paper and get nice paid junkets to…

I have to agree with this wholeheartedly. I'm just finishing up my undergrad in molecular biology. I've been working in a lab doing research for the last year and a half, and it sucks. As an earlier comment had pointed out, the post-doc I work along side only makes $40,000/year. He's in his 50's and has at least 30 published papers on everything from cancer research to stuff the lab is doing now on BK virus. For the last year…

Thu May 13 12:39:11 CDT 1999 When I started my degree in Astrophysics (1989), the department head fully expected there to be a glut of openings due to the retiring old guard. However, these people didn't retire, and if they did leave their position they weren't replaced. Luckily, I was aware my dedication was lacking, and I segued into software development and sysadmin early.