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The subtitle is a synopsis of this useful and well-written book. Both authors are Ph.D. physicists who pursued research careers before moving into science publishing. The advice they provide in this book is essential for young scientists, their primary audience, as well as for experienced scientists who need to improve their communication skills. Each chapter is a concise overview of an important professional skill. I found chapter 2 on creativity to be the least satisfying, principally because creativity is such a complex subject; it is difficult to do justice to it in 40 pages, although the authors do make some sensible general suggestions. The subsequent chapters are very well done. Chapter 3 is a step-by-step guide to preparing and delivering a scientific presentation. Although reading this chapter will not turn you into a spell-binding speaker, it will help you avoid the common errors that make many scientific talks unintelligible to everyone except the few specialists in the audience. I wish that the authors had devoted more space to poster presentations, which have become the entry point for young scientists into scientific meetings. As might be expected from the background of the authors, the chapters on publishing are well written and authoritative. They provide an overview of the scientific literature followed by an excellent chapter on organizing and writing a paper. The chapter on electronic publishing is a brief survey of how the scientific literature is being transformed by the Internet. The final chapter discusses what a patent is and how to go about getting one. The similarities and differences between the U.S. and European patent systems are clearly laid out, an important topic in this era of globalization. Young scientists in the first years of their careers will certainly find this book useful. It systematically discusses many of the important professional skills needed for success. The one research-related skill that has been left out is proposal writing, a topic that has been well covered in a recent book by Thomas Blackburn (1). This book could also be used in a professional skills course for graduate students or even in a senior seminar for undergraduates. I will recommend it to young faculty joining our department. Literature Cited- Blackburn, Thomas R. Getting Science Grants: Effective Strategies for Funding Success; John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, 2003. (Reviewed by Joseph E. Earley, Sr. in J. Chem. Educ. 2004, 81, 1268–1269.)
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