1. The need to record

    With collecting comes the need to record. A specimen without a label is simply a (sometimes) pretty object. Without its associated data it is scientifically worthless.

  2. A three-layered process of documentation

    A three-layered process of documentation:

    (1) First, there is the field notebook. This is where the actual numbers are recorded, together with passing observations relevant to the interpretation of these numbers.

    Paper is still proving more durable than electronic data.

    (2) The journal is a parallel record to that of the notebook—a daily account of events, thoughts, and observations.

    (3) Last of the three strata, then, are the publications. Traditionally, in science, these are articles in academic journals leavened with chapters in books. To be successful, a young scientist need aspire to no more than these two forms of output together with their oral versions at interminable conferences and meetings of learned societies.

    There came a time in my scientific development, however, when other forms of publication became important: magazines articles, and writing books.

    Edited for brevity.

  3. Incidental details

    In these journals lay the incidental details by which a book can be differentiated from a set of scientific articles. Such incidental details can become ends in themselves.