ABSTRACT
Every scientist-indeed every professional scholar worthy of the name-has to be an autodidact. That is, he or she must become seriously knowledgeable about subjects on which they could never find a teacher. Research is always at the edge of the unknown, where previously unsuspected ideas or techniques are required to travel further. Very often, however, they already exist in some other corner of the vast technoscientific world, and have to be learned by the researcher. Researchers will never get anywhere unless they are willing and able to become aware of this knowledge, locate it and take steps to learn it for themselves.
