You can find them in nearly every scientific discipline: the anonymous science blog. For a variety of reasons, their authors have decided not to reveal their identities, as is their right. Styles range from the absolutely analytical to the cynically sarcastic.

I have nothing against anonymous science blogs. Some of the most interesting writing I've seen has been posted to them. But I do have some reasons why you might want to think twice before starting one.

1. If you're writing about anything remotely interesting, you will be identified sooner or later. Have you ever attended a scientific meeting and noticed how many perfect strangers you meet who know someone you know? Scientific disciplines are very small worlds. Not only that, but Google is a frighteningly powerful tool to find obscure information. If one of your colleagues stumbles onto your blog, chances are excellent they will be able to identify you if they're determined.

2. Owning your content keeps you sane. Have you ever noticed how otherwise considerate people can be very inconsiderate drivers? There's something about anonymity that brings out the worst in people. Connecting your name with what you write forces you to carefully consider what you're doing. And that's a good thing. You're going to be identified anyway (see above), so you might as well write like it from the start.

3. Consider your motive. What's the real reason you're writing under a pseudonym? Is it to be able to vent without consequence? To avoid upsetting your boss? Wanting to avoid colleague reactions or embarrassment? Uncertainty as to whether you're "allowed?" Do you worry about writing something that a future employer might not like, thus endangering you chances of getting a job? Going back to Point 1 above, you will be identified eventually. When that happens, will you be prepared to face the music?

4. Your current employer has rights. If you're working in industry, you've signed an agreement that gives your employer rights to your ideas and inventions. If you're in academics, your advisor probably doesn't want you disclosing the details of cutting-edge research. The immediacy and reach of blogging will turn scientific publication on its head; these are merely previews of the issues that lie ahead. When in doubt, ask before blogging.

5. It's a new form of scientific publication. Would you want to be an anonymous author on your scientific publications? Of course not. Every scientist is a businessperson, whether they like the idea or not. The business model is simple: trade your scientific reputation for money in the form of grants, salaries, bonuses, and job opportunities. Publication is the currency of scientific business. Blog-like scientific writing is simply its newest incarnation.

Own your content. The career you help (or save) may be your own.

image credit: flyzipper

Also, I've come to see that there is one big thing that ruins these fields of amateur research. That thing is SECRECY. Every time amateurs [and plenty of professionals] think they've stumbled across something important, they go silent and treat their discovery as a Big Important Secret which must be preserved at all costs from the many enemies who want to steal it. This is garbage! It is a trap which leads to paranoid megalomania. At the same time, it wrecks their discovery by burying it. ...

-William Beaty, Rules for Unconventional Research

What are the most reliable ways to fail in science? Of course, no scientist sets out to fail, but an understanding of that path can lead to a better understanding of the path to success.

By way of Seth Godin's Blog, I came across some interesting rules for failure. Seth's article cites the above quoted essay. Its author is a self-styled "amateur researcher." I don't necessarily subscribe to everything written, but his essay contains more than a few grains of truth.

So, if you're looking for good ways to fail in science, here are some starting points:

1. Don't tell anyone about your idea - they might steal it.
2. When you do tell (shame on you!), don't listen to negative feedback - nobody knows your idea like you.
3. Focus on selling your idea to the government or a big company - this is your ticket to fame and fortune!
4. Assume other scientists will be blown away by your discovery - the ones that don't get it are incompetent.
5. Don't bother to build a working prototype - it's a waste of time. If, for some reason, you do build one, keep it under lock and key (see rule 1).
6. Notebooks and record keeping are busywork - focus on real work instead. Like coming up with more ideas.

Scientists showing these symptoms probably suffer from the mistaken belief that ideas are more important than hard work. Thomas Edison's remark about success being 99% execution and 1% idea couldn't be more true today. Ideas are cheap. People with the determination, ability, and humility to make their ideas work are the precious commodity.