Terence Tao’s blog, available at **terrytao.wordpress.com*, is entitled What’s New. The posts with mathematical content are naturally very interesting, but they are sometimes highly advanced and accessible only to specialists. Others, however—particularly those in the Career advice series—are approachable and well worth reading; together, they form a "collection of advice on academic careers in mathematics"*.
Practical, concrete advice
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Each post opens with a relevant quotation, is fairly short and is invariably written in straightforward language—English, in this case. It is followed by comments, reactions and questions from internet users, often with replies from Tao. Numerous links lead from one post to another or direct readers to similar articles by other authors.
Tao begins with this warning: "The advice given here is very general in nature; I do not claim to have a ‘magic bullet’ that will solve every career problem. Before making any major career decision, you will of course need to weigh the many factors, circumstances and needs specific to your situation, and exercise a healthy dose of common sense."
Some of Tao’s recommendations are very simple and general, and therefore apply beyond mathematics. The titles of a few posts speak for themselves: "Work hard," "Love your work," "Be flexible," "Be sceptical of your own work," "Be patient"… Coming from such an exceptional scientist, they should certainly give us pause!
