How scientists think

Kary Mullis won a Nobel prize for figuring out how to make multiple copies of short pieces of DNA. While that doesn’t sound revolutionary, his polymerase chain reaction (PCR) forms the cornerstone of current and future genetic innovations including genetic testing and sequencing the human genome. His latest great idea came to him after watching a friend die from an antibiotic-resistant infection. He explains it better than I can in this video from the TED conference.
Another TED conference talk worth three minutes of your time is here, especially if you think you always hated math. For more on statistics and why you should care, go to our Book Club and scroll down to the bottom. Start by re-reading How to Lie with Statistics.
Some days I really miss science.
Ellen Andrews