The PhD Breakdown

Leonardo da Vinci loved quality over quantity. He didn’t write paintings in quantities like we write #research papers today. He always invested time, craft and artistry into each of his masterpieces. For example, Mona Lisa took at least 4 years to paint and (most probably) another 10 years of refining. It was ordered in 1503 by a cloth merchant Francesco del Giocondo, who asked for a portrait of his wife, Lisa. But Leonardo was a slow worker and finished the painting quite late. At that time, he started to work for the King Francis I of France, so apparently Leonardo gave the painting to the King as a gift. ▫️ Now, imagine he would have been ‘producing’ 10-20 paintings a year. Moreover, imagine he would have hired younger painters and, without investing time into their training, asked for drafts? Just to turn painting into a “printing machine”. Would his work have stayed in history for 500 years? ▫️ ‘Quality over quantity’ goes well beyond science. It’s in art. It’s in long-lasting engineering. It’s everywhere. ▫️ Don't publish for the sake of publishing. Quality over quantity. Even if the academia pushes you into the opposite direction. It’s what makes us, the humankind, progress and prosper. And this is what makes history. #AcademicChatter #AcademicTwitter