1. To be the first

I've not seen this attempted before. "Blog" may not be the right term: think of this more as an open diary that records the experiences of an average research scientist.

Websites maintained by scientists come in mainly two varieties. Either they are stunningly minimalist in design and content, or they dazzle you with such amazing success stories and testimonials of impact that, if you too are a scientist, you start to question the legitimacy of your own research. This blog is an attempt to give a more realistic account of the week-to-week progress on a long term research project. Obviously I will cherish the opportunities to trumpet my successes. But at the same time, I promise to record all the failed strategies, dead ends, and downright errors in judgement. A successful outcome of this "blogging" experiment will be that the public sees research as a much more ordinary activity than is projected by the science blogs and research websites already out there.

2. To keep myself classy

My colleagues at Cornell are surely concerned about the wisdom of this undertaking. Why reveal to the world my deepest insights and hard won technical achievements, only to risk being scooped on a major breakthrough in the final lap? My answer to that is to quote the computer scientist Edsger Dijkstra: "Do only what only you can do." In the next post I will lay out my research proposal and grand strategy to get things going. There are enough novel elements that I'm not worried a rival, even with considerably more resources (and no shortage of shame) could beat me at my own game. If that were not the case, then according to Dijkstra I should probably think of another project to work on.

3. The Mike Mulligan effect

For those of you who have never read aloud picture books to young children, Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel "Mary Anne" are responsible for many of the canals, tunnels, landing fields, etc. in this country. While their strong work ethic was never in doubt, curiously, "Whenever people watched them dig, they always worked a little better and a little faster." I'm a theoretical physicist, and my theory for the week is that by having people all over the planet monitor my progress, I and my trusty laptop maryanne will think just a little sharper and create with just a bit more sparkle.