I think that personal success is the correct impression:
I noticed a couple of months later he was made the head of the department. I noticed the other day he was a Member of the National Academy of Engineering. I noticed he has succeeded. I have never heard the names of any of the other fellows at that table mentioned in science and scientific circles.
Notice he doesn’t talk about all the amazing things that were solved; he talks about lab positions and Nobel Prizes and getting equations named after himself.
I expect that Hamming would view having an impact on the world as being a good reason to choose going into science instead of law or finance, but once that choice is made being great at science is the reasonable thing to do.
To be clear, I don’t think he viewed reputations and promotions as the goal, I believe he viewed them as reasonable metrics that he was on the right track for doing great science.
Rereading the original text, I think he is talking about all three of (1) doing something that has a substantial impact on the world, (2) doing something that brings you major career success, and (3) doing something that turns you into a better scientist and a better person. (The last of those is mostly not very apparent in what he says, but there’s this: “I think it is very definitely worth the struggle to try and do first-class work because the truth is, the value is in the struggle more than it is in the result. The struggle to make something of yourself seems to be worthwhile in itself. The success and fame are sort of dividends, in my opinion.”)
I think that personal success is the correct impression:
Notice he doesn’t talk about all the amazing things that were solved; he talks about lab positions and Nobel Prizes and getting equations named after himself.
I expect that Hamming would view having an impact on the world as being a good reason to choose going into science instead of law or finance, but once that choice is made being great at science is the reasonable thing to do.
To be clear, I don’t think he viewed reputations and promotions as the goal, I believe he viewed them as reasonable metrics that he was on the right track for doing great science.
Rereading the original text, I think he is talking about all three of (1) doing something that has a substantial impact on the world, (2) doing something that brings you major career success, and (3) doing something that turns you into a better scientist and a better person. (The last of those is mostly not very apparent in what he says, but there’s this: “I think it is very definitely worth the struggle to try and do first-class work because the truth is, the value is in the struggle more than it is in the result. The struggle to make something of yourself seems to be worthwhile in itself. The success and fame are sort of dividends, in my opinion.”)