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The Art of Doing Science and Engineering book club questions
Here are 12 book club questions for The Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Richard Hamming, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
Richard Hamming's book is based on a course he taught at the Naval Postgraduate School in the late 1980s, after a long career at Bell Labs where he made foundational contributions to information theory and computer science — the Hamming distance, Hamming codes, and various contributions to numerical methods all bear his name.
Richard Hamming · 1997 · 6h 0m
Full summary and key takeaways →The 12 questions
- 1.
Hamming asked colleagues why they weren't working on the most important problems in their field. What would your honest answer be to that question in your own work?
- 2.
He argues that working on safe, publishable problems is a kind of failure. Where do you draw the line between ambition and recklessness in choosing what to work on?
- 3.
Hamming claims that luck is preparation meeting opportunity. Think of a lucky break in your own career — how much was it preparation, and how much was chance?
- 4.
The book insists style is not separate from substance in science. Has a poorly presented idea ever failed to get traction it deserved, in your experience?
- 5.
Hamming was known for asking uncomfortable questions. What uncomfortable question about your work would you most want someone to ask, and most dread hearing?
- 6.
The book is based on lectures from the 1990s and shows its age in places. How do you read a text that mixes durable insight with dated material?
- 7.
Hamming emphasizes converting fuzzy problems into well-defined ones. What is a problem in your professional life that is still too vague to solve?
- 8.
He describes how some people leave their office door open and others closed. What do you do that is equivalent — inviting or blocking unexpected intellectual collisions?
- 9.
Hamming argues that most people shy away from great work because it requires risking failure on harder problems. How much of your current work is genuinely at risk of failure?
- 10.
What does 'doing great work' mean in a field that isn't science or engineering? Does Hamming's framework translate?
- 11.
The book is self-evidently written by someone who accomplished important things. Does that authority make you more or less critical of his prescriptions?
- 12.
Hamming spent his career at Bell Labs, an environment that was unusually permissive about pure research. How much of his advice is transferable to normal institutions?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for The Art of Doing Science and Engineering?
Here are 12 book club questions for The Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Richard Hamming, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on learning, problem-solving, creativity.
How long should a book club discussion of The Art of Doing Science and Engineering last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in The Art of Doing Science and Engineering?
Learning, Problem-solving, Creativity, Engineering excellence, Career development. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like The Art of Doing Science and Engineering or questions for other book club picks.
