Current Biology has made available the column that Sydney Brenner kept as a pdf

It was an interesting read and gave an idea of science in the pre-genomics era. It was great to get a glimpse into how a great mind works.

In particular the following essays stood out for me (pages refer to pdf)

Page 22 on how to correspond with crackpots, or deal with colleagues’ letters. It is a pity the advice will not work as well with electronic communication.

Page 39 on God’s explanation to Francisco Crick on how imaginal disks work.

Page 42 on performance evaluation.