I thought this was an excellent article with some solid advice on how to succeed in the field. At the very least it's an honest description, up front, of what'

I thought this was an excellent article with some solid advice on how to succeed in the field. At the very least it's an honest description, up front, of what's expected so people can decide whether a career in the sciences is worth it. That said, I'm also struck by the notion that unless you were particularly passionate about the idea of doing scientific research the best thing an intelligent person could do would be to pursue a career in a field where the rewards were higher or the sacrifices demanded lower.