Good research is egomaniacal. You look for something that noone else has
ever seen. When you find it, you are the "only person in the world" who
knows that fact which you discovered. If you keep it that way, others will
eventually make the same discovery (probably publishing and getting the
credit).
If you publish, you run the risk of discovering that, while you are the
only person on earth to know what you discovered, you may be the only
person who cares...Still, your contribution adds to the whole. Perhaps it
will be useful later, perhaps it will be a hindrence.
In the 70's I revisited some heat capacity measurements on some
perovskites. The 50's data concluded nothing interesting could be found
(That was a hinderence to my research). Knowing where the phase transition
was anticipated (someone else's research) allowed its detection (so I was
the only person on earth to see it-what an ego trip). But so what? At
best, a dozen people cared. Years later, members of the perovskite family
were discovered to be high Tc superconductors...but not by me, or by the
dozen or so studying them when I did, nor by the researchers of 20 years
before. Sometimes its all about "Sleepwalking" as the book by that title
suggests. Karl
Dr. Karl I. Trappe Desk Phone: (512) 471-4152
Physics Dept, Mail Stop C-1600 Demo Office: (512) 471-5411
The University of Texas at Austin Home Phone: (512) 264-1616
Austin, Texas 78712-1081