If you like this stuff, recommend you read Hamming's "You and Your Research" (http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html http://www.cs.virginia.

If you like this stuff, recommend you read Hamming's "You and Your Research" (http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html), which is thought-provoking and approachable. Ha, Sir Michael Atiyah's advice to a young mathematician includes a great anecdote: ""J. E. Littlewood is reported to have set each of his research students to work on a disguised version of the Riemann hypothesis, letting them know what he had done only after six months. He argued that the student would not have the confidence to attack such a famous problem directly, but might make progress if not told of the fame of his opponent! The policy may not have led to a proof of the Riemann hypothesis, but it certainly led to resilient and battle-hardened students"". What a great story — sounds like it just leapt off the pages of the McSweeny's list "Zen Parable or Just Someone Being Cruel?".