Doing World-Changing Research: Hamming
There is a great talk by Richard Hamming on doing great research (”Nobel-prize type of work”) called “You and Your Research”.
Choice quote:
You should do your job in such a fashion that others can build on top of it, so they will indeed say, “Yes, I’ve stood on so and so’s shoulders and I saw further.” The essence of science is cumulative. By changing a problem slightly you can often do great work rather than merely good work. Instead of attacking isolated problems, I made the resolution that I would never again solve an isolated problem except as characteristic of a class.