It's been quite a year...
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| I made it back to Bonaire this year, looking for more parrotfish, and more Challenges. The tropics will return to SRS in the months ahead! |
When I look back over the past twelve months of Challenges, answers, comments, and discussion, I see a rich back-and-forth between readers (some of whom are active commenters), me, and the world at large.
I mean, look at the range of topics we've investigated! We've talked about everything from why an island in Fiji seems to be missing (January 3, 2018) to deep investigations about why a piece of real estate in San Francisco seems to be unusually shaped (February 28), to how large seeds are dispersed (June 2), and why a stream in Austria seems to flow uphill (July 25). These are all amazingly curious observations about the world; things we notice that drive our curiosity and our research.
What I find so much fun about these Challenges (and frankly, the discussions that come out of them) is the incredible range of topics that attract our interest, and what we do to discover the answers.
As you know, that breadth of curiosity is important to me--I firmly believe that people with a curious outlook on life know more, do better work, and are generally more interesting! You are definitely all of these things.
The SRS blog started in 2010 as a way for me to share insights about how to do effective online search. Along the way, it transmogrified into ideas for a book on this topic--running title: The Joy of Finding Out. As I mentioned earlier, the book is happening! I just got the publisher's copy-edits! Once I accept (or challenge) them, they'll print up a galley of the book, and that's the last pass. After the galleys are accepted, the thing gets sent off to the printers! The expected due date is early summer, 2019.
I'll let you know more about the book when it gets closer to publication date--but I want to let you know that all of you, the loyal SRS readers, have played an important part in the process of getting this book into print. So, as we begin a new year, I wanted to be sure you all know how much I appreciate all of you. Your intrepid research skills are amazing, and the discussions we have in the comments are wonderful. Thanks!
I'm going to take two weeks off (I've got to attend to those copyedits!), but I'll be back on January 9, 2019, with a whole new Challenge. (And a few additional special treats.)
Have a marvelous New Year! I'll see you soon, back here, in SearchResearch!
-- Dan
Good Morning!
ReplyDeleteAs you say it has been a great year full of amazing and incredible Challenges and those Challengas have been only the tip of the iceberg. I have discovered, read,found and searched many related things. For example, the comet,the music, History, and so many more. Also, since I read, follow and do your Challenges, have noticed and searched more in my own life.
Congratulations for the new step in your book. I already want to read it.
Wish you a marvelous New Year, too. And thanks so much for giving us so much here in your blog that enriches our lives, and gives us always new knowledge, new tools and new ways of thinking.
Finally, as we all know, G+ is closing down in a few months. And, I want to say thanks to the platform because it allowed me to find Dr. Russell's first MOOC and with that have the honor and privilege to be here with Dr. Russell and everyone of you.
a quick question – why the scuba pic swap… profile v frontal? anyway, HNY! to you and all the folks you collect here @ sRs… as Ramón said, the challenges are often jumping off points for many other searches and explorations… 2019 - or was it 2020? - went by way too fast - •<⟧ ;-]⫸ (Santa emoticon)
ReplyDeletesearch wide, search long, search on… (please keep us informed of the new 'Plex progress - it looks to be quite something.)
made me recall this⬇
Day One building
up the coast cousin?? a someday mega M&A joining
After posting it (that is, post posting) I realized that my Fiji trip was in 2017 and that 2018 was the year of my trip to Bonaire. I just grabbed the first self-portrait I could find from the Bonaire dive trip--and that proved to be portrait mode rather than the landscape pic of me in Fiji!
DeleteThanks so much Dan. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year's. Can't wait for the new challenges. Anne and I are excited. We've already said we are going to put time in our calendars for working on the challenges!
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, Dr. Russell and everyone
ReplyDeleteLast November, we had a Challenge Answer: How many wildfires in California over the past 20 years? (From post of 11/14/18) and this morning my feed showed me this
100 Years of Californian Wildfires that I am sharing with you, to add more information