Do scientists read enough fiction?

Abstract

If asked to imagine the typical workday of an academic scientist, most people would probably think of teaching, experiments, grant writing and meetings. What they would not envision is someone sitting on a comfortable chair enjoying a novel. In fact, if in the middle of the day, a well‐paid scientist or tuition‐ridden student were caught reading John le Carré, they would likely be accused of wasting their time. However, I would argue that reading fiction can be just as (if not more) important as any other activity for the development, well‐being, creativity and productivity of a scientist. Reading literature—and I do not mean the scientific literature—has been an integral part of my academic life, one which I believe has helped me progress as a researcher. But it was not always this way.