What does "Success" look like?

One of my former bosses asked me this on a number of occasions in relation to individual projects. I've recently been asking myself the same thing after spending quite a lot of time researching some stuff for the SL groups I look after. This time though, it's "Life" success rather then short term projects.  During this research, I've been looking fairly intimately at two figures; Brian Cox and Colin Pillinger.

At first, it seemed to me that "success" in the careers of these two individuals took them away from what they really love doing. But the more I think about it, the more I think that perhaps they were doing what they always wanted to do.

So. Professor Brian Cox. A theoretical Physicist at the University of Manchester and a spokesperson for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. He is currently working on the ATLAS experiment but we see him mostly giving lectures, TV and radio interviews trying to engage the public in the experiments they are due to begin on September 10th. These presentations are aimed at the general public and so do not have a high level of Physics in them. Rightly so. But how does a highly trained and driven individual cope with doing this kind of work? It's really something anyone could do. I wondered wouldn't Brian feel more comfortable concentrating on the actual physics of the experiments? Does this look like success for Brian? Well, yes. I suppose the purpose of any academic is to further our understanding of things and teach those insights to others. And that is precisely what he is doing.

Colin Pillinger is best known as the driving force behind the Open University's pioneering mission to Mars to search for life. It was his initial enthusiasm that brought this mission to reality. But again, he is not best known for the science content, but for engaging the public and seeking funding for the project. His quirky character was the perfect vehicle for the public. He comes across as the sightly eccentric yet loveable scientist. Talk to most people involved with the Beagle 2 project and they will tell you Colin is not exactly loveable. He worked people HARD! But this is what success is for Colin. A single minded determination to see the project succeed. Sadly, in it's primary mission aims, it did not. However, the wealth of information and skills gained by the team that worked so hard, is worth heaps. Again, we see Colin popularising science and bringing the public along for the ride.

Most of the scientists you can name have one thing in common. Their love of communicating science. If I can say one thing about the scientific community and that is they are (mostly) willing to impart their knowledge to anyone who will listen.  And if you want to listen to them, that is what success looks like.