Martin Lewis Perl

1927–2014 · American scientist

Topics: creativity, learning, engineering leadership

• The experimenter dealing with nature faces an outside and often hard world. Natures' curriculum cannot be changed.

  — Martin Lewis Perl

• For every good idea, expect to have five, ten, twenty wrong or useless ideas. You cannot avoid the bad ideas if you keep your imagination free. There is no spam filter for bad ideas.

  — Martin Lewis Perl

• Imagination and obsession are the keys to getting a good idea. To help your imagination keep your eyes and ears open. Avoid the "not invented here prejudice".

  — Martin Lewis Perl

• You may turn a bad idea into a good idea — don't kill the bad idea prematurely. A bad idea can evolve into a good idea.

  — Martin Lewis Perl

• It is always a good plan for a speculative experimenter to have two experiments going, or at least one going and one being built.

  — Martin Lewis Perl

• The best colleagues are those who will think about your ideas, who will talk with you and offer insight, constructive criticism. No one needs to be crushed for having a new idea.

  — Martin Lewis Perl

• Experimental science is a craft and an art, and part of the art is knowing when to end a fruitless experiment. There is a danger of becoming obsessed with a fruitless experiment even if it goes nowhere.

  — Martin Lewis Perl