In haste does Laertes disappear from sight ("Most humbly do I take my leave, my Lord") as Polonius barely finishes his tiresome, advisory speech (or merely pauses for breath). And in haste did I read through the first few chapters of Advice to a Young Scientist, fearing that despite the author's conscious effort not to be Polonius, Lord Chesterfield, or, even worse, Kipling, he would turn out to be a compound of all three. But nothing could be less true, and early on in the book I decided to nest in a comfortable chair the better to savor the sensible counsel of Professor Medawar.
The book is the second in a series organized by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, planned to make "the process of scientific discovery more understandable, more real and more exciting to the general reader." Since I cannot with full conviction assume the part of general reader