Scientific research requires both innovation and attention to detail, clever breakthroughs and routine procedures. This indispensable 2009 guide gives students and researchers across all scientific disciplines practical advice on how to succeed. All types of scientific careers are discussed, from those in industry and academia to consulting, with emphasis on how scientists spend their time and the skills that are needed to be productive. Strategic thinking, creativity and problem-solving, the central keys to success in research, are all explored. The reader is shown how to enhance the creative process in science, how one goes about making discoveries, putting together the solution to a complex problem and then testing the solution obtained. The social dimension of science is also discussed from the development and execution of a scientific research program to publishing papers, as well as issues of ethics and science policy.

Scientific research requires both innovation and attention to detail, clever breakthroughs and routine procedures. This indispensable guide gives students and researchers across all scientific disciplines practical advice on how to succeed. All types of scientific careers are discussed, from those in industry and academia to consulting, with emphasis on how scientists spend their time and the skills that are needed to be productive. Strategic thinking, creativity and problem-solving, the central keys to success in research, are all explored. The reader is shown how to enhance the creative process in science, how one goes about making discoveries, putting together the solution to a complex problem and then testing the solution obtained. The social dimension of science is also discussed from the development and execution of a scientific research program to publishing papers, as well as issues of ethics and science policy.

Professionals today, whether scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, or managers, need to maximize their effectiveness. Real world problems are complex and must be tackled with adequate conceptual tools. Hard work and motivation are not enough. Professionals need to think strategically in order to choose the right problem to solve, to solve it in a cost-effective way, to use resources efficiently, and to be innovative and productive. Written in a concise, accessible style, Thinking Strategically goes beyond brainstorming motivational books to provide the power tools needed to dissect problems and to find innovative solutions. These tools are based on an understanding of the power of bottlenecks, paradox, scale and perspective constraints, and feedback as leverage points for getting a grip on the problem. The result is a practical book for managers and other professionals about the strategic use of effort that can lead to astonishing levels of productivity.

Professionals today, whether scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, or managers, need to maximize their effectiveness. Real world problems are complex and must be tackled with adequate conceptual tools. Hard work and motivation are not enough. Professionals need to think strategically in order to choose the right problem to solve, to solve it in a cost-effective way, to use resources efficiently, and to be innovative and productive. Written in a concise, accessible style, Thinking Strategically goes beyond brainstorming motivational books to provide the power tools needed to dissect problems and to find innovative solutions. These tools are based on an understanding of the power of bottlenecks, paradox, scale and perspective constraints, and feedback as leverage points for getting a grip on the problem. The result is a practical book for managers and other professionals about the strategic use of effort that can lead to astonishing levels of productivity.

Detection and attribution of climate change dependexplicitly on proper characterization of naturalpatterns of climate over time. This book examinesmultiple types of climate data, from ocean heatcontent over a few years to ice core data going back60,000 years. Multi-scale analyses are employed totest for stationarity or acceleration of warming insatellite and ground instrumental data. Problemsthat arise when combining instrumental data into longrecords are evaluated. The CO2 rise pattern ischaracterized and the problem of extrapolation isaddressed. It is finally shown that periodicpatterns can be detected at multiple time scales, from decades to millenia. These patterns arecharacterized and used to address the attributionproblem. The human contribution to climate is shownto be separable from natural variability and ischaracterized. Human forcing of climate is shown tobe detectable beginning in 1942. This forcingpattern is used along with patterns of naturalvariability to make a 100 year forecast.