WINNING THE GAMES SCIENTISTS PLAY

New York: Plenum Press, 1984. Third Printing . Black Boards. Very Good/Very Good. 8 7/16" Tall. Matter-of-fact advice about getting ahead in science, written for science practitioners but pretty widely applicable to any careerist. Game playing, the author writes, "in science or in any occupation, can be defined as the ability and willingness not only to govern your actions by a set of rules, but to have those rules work in your favor." There are three parts to the book. The first considers the scientist as a writer, performer, face in the crowd (at scientific meetings), concertmaster, producer/director, and negotiator. The second deals with the scientist in the bureaucratic scheme: moving up, on and out, in control (power), and in doubt (ethics). And the third discusses special interest areas like sex in the lab, coping with bureaucrats, dealing with the outside and with the industry. It's a bravura performance, delivered dead-pan, and should be issued with the sheepskin to every newly minted PhD. 290 pages with Prologue, Epilogue, References and Index; plus Preface and Contents. DJs have a two tiny chips, otherwise clean though front flap is dogeared; boards have two tiny nips; text is clean and strong.