As many young people at Bell Labs in the late 50s (at least those of us lucky enough to work with him) Dick had a major impact on my life. he was the one who inspired me to stay at BTL rather than going back to school and thus getting the opportunity to work with some of the great people in our field. Throughout my life, Dick remained a friend and a source of wisdom (and jokes). I have missed him since his death.
Dave
Richard Hamming
‘‘You and Your Research’’
Transcription of the
Bell Communications Research Colloquium Seminar
7 March 1986
J. F. Kaiser
Bell Communications Research
445 South Street
Morristown, NJ 07962−1910
At a seminar in the Bell Communications Research Colloquia Series, Dr. Richard W.
Hamming, a Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California and a
retired Bell Labs scientist, gave a very interesting and stimulating talk, ‘You and Your
Research’ to an overflow audience of some 200 Bellcore staff members and visitors at the
Morris Research and Engineering Center on March 7, 1986. This talk centered on
Hamming’s observations and research on the question ‘‘Why do so few scientists make
significant contributions and so many are forgotten in the long run?’’ From his more
than forty years of experience, thirty of which were at Bell Laboratories, he has made a
number of direct observations, asked very pointed questions of scientists about what,
how, and why they did things, studied the lives of great scientists and great
contributions, and has done introspection and studied theories of creativity. The talk is
about what he has learned in terms of the properties of the individual scientists, their
abilities, traits, working habits, attitudes, and philosophy.
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