I am currently writing my Ph.D. thesis. I like to take inspiration from the writing of people I have admired my whole student life. The idea is to take inspiration from how people wrote many complicated ideas in an informative but concise form. In this quest, I wanted to look at Roger Penrose's Ph.D. thesis even though my topic is far from what he did. However, I have lost hope. It is not there online anywhere.
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9Have you asked your librarian? Helping you find literature like that is their job after all...– Maarten BuisCommented Jul 5 at 8:36
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7Your library employs people who can help you. They are called librarians. Just talk to them.– Maarten BuisCommented Jul 5 at 8:44
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3@CfourPiO For SE, it is better to ask one question at a time.– TimRiasCommented Jul 5 at 8:57
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2@CfourPiO: I removed your second question since there should be only one question per question (as already mentioned) and it’s also far too broad and opinion-based for this site.– Wrzlprmft ♦Commented Jul 5 at 9:15
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3I also think your approach of looking at PhD theses in particular is flawed. Rather look at any scientific writing that you consider good. While there are some differences between PhD theses and other publications in the macroscopic structure, this structure also strongly depends on the particular work. As for Penrose’ thesis in particular: Scientific writing has progressed a lot since 1958 and you should not ignore this. Also pure mathematics is and was very different from other fields in its writing.– Wrzlprmft ♦Commented Jul 5 at 9:25
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2 Answers
One trip to Wikipedia gives us a link to the entry for the thesis in the Cambridge university library:
https://idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk/permalink/f/t9gok8/44CAM_ALMA21428192330003606
It does not seem to be available for loan, but you can contact the library to see if they have a digitized version (or ask your local university librarian).
Here is the worldcat entry: https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/71366928
The Center for Reseach Libraries has a microfilm version, which they can digitize on request: https://catalog.crl.edu/Record/d36d6ec6-3700-5e81-b894-27ef84ece6a9
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Excellent. Our university is not a CRL member though. Luckily, I found an entry in my university library online. I have ordered it. Thank you. I don't know if they can request it.– CfourPiOCommented Jul 5 at 9:01
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Since (from what you say in comments) you’re at a university, ask your university’s librarians for help — either by email or (often best of all) in person. Helping researchers obtain literature is one of their main job responsibilities (though less often needed now than it was twenty years ago); they can often find much more beyond what you can get automatically through online systems.
Depending where you live, you may have other research libraries available to you as well — many countries or large cities have national/municipal research libraries, with similarly well-qualified librarians. (For instance, in the countries I know, the UK has the British Library, and Sweden has the Kungliga Biblioteket in Stockholm, both open to anyone living in the country.)
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3There is nothing a research librarian likes better than a challenge like the OP has. They live for this kind of thing. Commented Jul 5 at 15:13
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Actually, I have tried this today and they said they can’t help as it’s not available at all in EU and they don’t want to import from somewhere else now. However, I asked them over email. I will try to reach out to them physically. Let’s see if they can.– CfourPiOCommented Jul 5 at 23:50