一次,一个刚刚获得诺贝尔奖的以色列教授到我们那儿讲学。 引用了一篇几十年前的文献。 文献上很明确地说:这是以前别人做出的结果,我们重复不出来。 这个教授感叹人心不古,你看前人多实在,做不出来就是做不出来,end of the story. 要是换到了现在,为了能发表,就得拐弯抹角,牵强附会,讨论来讨论去,到处地扯,看得人一头雾水。 这就说明写文章得能写能吹。
I have had similar career path, from physics to biology to actuary (giving up wall street in favor of raising children in between). Thinking back on my friends who are still physicists and biologists, I realize that these risky research projects would only be carried out by postdocs and graduate students who are completely reliant on their advisors for their future. If they had any choices, they wouldn't be willing to risk their 5,10,15 years of life on these projects.
But science is a cruel field like that. Without the sacrifice of hundreds/thousands of failure, there'd be no success. It's just that those people who had done the failed experiment shouldn't be considered failures themselves, and should be able to go on and get decent academic jobs.