Lessons I Wish I Had Been Taught (1996) [pdf]

> Running overtime is the one unforgivable error a lecturer can make. This is so true. It has happened too often that a professor has decided to explain the most difficult topic in 5 minutes overtime. Before lunch. What a mistake.

Some excellent points even for a non-maths guy like me. And I learned a new word: incunabulum.

"Richard Feynman was fond of giving the following advice on how to be a genius. You have to keep a dozen of your favorite problems constantly present in your mind, although by and large they will lay in a dormant state. Every time you hear or read a new trick or a new result, test it against each of your twelve problems to see whether it helps.” Basically just did this again this week. I was re-reading a three year…

I have a colleague who gives great talks. There are three reasons they are great. (1) The science is great. (2) He speaks engagingly and explains his (complex) material very well.(3) He always includes a citation and some very specific remarks on the single paper that I can read, to learn more. This third thing is the most important to the growth of the academic field, because solitary study is usually required to make progress, and nobody has time to…