What hardware do you use? Once I saw Nobel laureate Oliver Smithies, who discovered DNA recombination, give a talk about his process. He showed us photos of his lab notebooks leading up to his discovery and got me thinking about how recording your work — and the associated ideas — is as important as doing the work. Though I’m not a lab scientist, I spend a fair bit of time with my notebooks. (I’ve tried digital note-keeping methods and, for me, nothing comes close to the real thing.) I’m absolutely in love with the Postalco A5. It’s designed incredibly well. The back cover extends a few centimeters beyond the pages to keep the notebook from slipping as you write. The spine sits on top to allow for ease of labelling on the sides. The pages have a fine mesh grid that makes it nice for writing words and drawing diagrams at all scales.
I love that, when asked what hardware she uses, she starts out with her preferred notebook.
