Architecture of Scientific Discovery: A productivity system for scientists

The Architecture of Scientific Discovery (ASD) is my framework for understanding all the levers and you knobs you can pull to produce scientific discoveries in your own work.

The Architecture of Scientific Discovery is different, but works with the scientific method.

The scientific method focuses on how to create valid, rigorous, reproducible observations and predictions about the natural world.

Overviews and guides laying out the scientific method teach you how to run trustworthy experiments and develop well-grounded claims about the world.

But what the scientific method leaves out is…well…you.

It doesn’t acknowledge that most science is done by real people. Or that those people have different capacities, biases, and mindsets.

The scientific method also glosses over an underlying performance goal. Scientific discovery.

We intuitively know there is a difference between regular science and scientific discovery.

Both need the scientific method. But discussions of scientific performance almost never talk about what makes the difference.  Or how you can not just contribute to science, but make scientific discoveries.

The Architecture of Discovery is designed to fill that performance gap and you put back in the equation.

As the physicist behind The Insightful Scientist website, my mission is to figure out what we can do to turn our passion for science into discovery-level performance and pass it on to you. I find, create, and share tips, tricks, and tools to let you pursue your highest contribution to science.

We can all be insightful scientists.

We can all make discoveries.

You just need to know how to start.

This post is an index to all 33 posts in my mega-series about the Architecture of Scientific Discovery.

The posts cover the six core areas that make the framework and how they affect your own work.

You can also check out the Research Spotlight section of the website. There I summarize classic and cutting-edge research on topics affecting science performance.  Also, the Discovery Library has a searchable index of deep reads for both online and offline.

But it’s not just about information here on The Insightful Scientist website.  I’ll also share tools to help you get scientific discovery done.

The Scientist’s Repertoire, The Illustrated Scientist, and Spark Points offer how-to’s, visual guides, and printables. I take pursuing discovery seriously here at The Insightful Scientist. These tool and tips are here to help you convert knowledge into action and results.

But to make something happen, you first have to get clear on what you’re trying to produce and what affects your results.

So let’s get clear on what scientific discovery is all about.  Below is an indexed list of links to all the posts in the Architecture of Scientific Discovery (ASD) series.  Dig in.  And get discovery done!

If you’re short on time, don’t worry.  You can jump in and out of the series anywhere.  The posts are each standalone.  If you want to read the whole series in order, just read through the posts in the order they are listed below.

The original series of posts have been removed and updated (read about that here) to be easier to read.

Updated versions will be uploaded by the end of November 2022 activating links.

 

Architecture of Scientific Discovery Complete Series

 

Needed pre-reading posts

• Series Science Example:  Nuclear weapons are bad and excess plutonium makes the problem badder
• Series Illustration Origin Story:  A fictional scientist is the way to learn how to make scientific discoveries

Mega-series overview post

• Architecture of Scientific Discovery Overview (ASD):  To make a scientific discovery you need a plan not a map

Mini-series overview posts and sub-posts

• Scientist’s Repertoire Overview (M.A.S.K):  Prioritize building your portfolio of practices before building your portfolio of products for scientific discovery
  • Mindset –  Your attention is a camera, change lenses to boost your discovery ability
  • Activities –  You can convert scientific discovery from an art to a skill by doing small tasks
  • Skills –  Scientific discovery skills are your recipes for combining intentions with actions
  • Knowledge –  What you know determines what you can discover in science
• Discovery Capacities Overview:  Making a scientific discovery isn’t just for Einsteins
  • Innovation – When applying the innovation mantra of doing it “better” in science stops you from getting it done
  • Invention – When building your own tools is the way to build new science ideas
  • Insight Overview (M.U.V.):  Changing how you think of scientific insight transforms impostor syndrome into expertise
    • Misperceived –  Knowing the wrong things keeps you from discovering new things
    • Unaware –  Your lack of information is positive feedback for making a scientific discovery
    • Vague –  Having a vague understanding in science kills your discoveries before they start
• Discovery Qualities Overview (R.U.N.):  Memorizing the definition of “scientific discovery” lets you actually make one
  • Radical –  Making a scientific discovery means you can always define a clear before and after
  • Universal –  Making a scientific discovery means you can predict more about a lot of things
  • Novel –  Making a scientific discovery means you are not the only one who can see and do something
• Discovery Classes Overview:  Knowing the three levels of scientific discovery will end your fear of failure
  • Minor –  Mastering the first level of scientific discovery lets you fail upwards
  • Major –  Mastering the second level of scientific discovery turns your passion into performance
  • Legacy –  Mastering the third level of scientific discovery let’s you change your future
• Discovery Categories Overview:  Knowing the type of scientific discovery you are trying to make can save you years of effort
  • Attribute –  Finding new properties of known objects is a beginner-friendly way to make a scientific discovery
  • Object –  Finding new objects is only one way you can make a scientific discovery
  • Mechanism –  You should try to discover how and why things happen and help save the world
• Discovery Cycle Overview:  A mental picture of the scientific discovery cycle is your ultimate personal coach
  • Question –  Asking a serious questions moves your odds of making a scientific discovery from impossible to possible
  • Ideation –  When to overthink things to help yourself make a scientific discovery
  • Articulation –  How a concept called “articulation” explains where your good science ideas die
  • Evaluation –  Why your wrong ideas and failed attempts move you toward making a scientific discovery
  • Verification –  How to know when you can finally claim (and celebrate) that you’ve made a scientific discovery

Mega-series index post

• You’re on it!

 

[Page feature photo:  Photo by Pierre Châtel-Innocenti on Unsplash.]