CURRICULUM
THE SCIENCES Trial; But Mostly Error Daniel Almeyda
S cientists are misunderstood. It’s a misconception to think that all of us are test-tube-swirling maniacs – it’s only most of us. Where but in the Lab can failures of professional practice be celebrated as successes? Just ask Alexander Fleming, whose contamination of his own experiments led to the development of antibiotics. Some call it ironic; I’m just glad 28 isn’t considered middle-aged anymore. We may not understand the use of iambic pentameter or the rhetorical devices in Hamlet, but I challenge you to find me an English student who understands the dire consequences of using an overly concentrated sulphuric acid catalyst to oxidise alcohols. Scenes of broken glass still haunt my
nightmares… Unlike some subjects, we don’t merely sit in badly lit rooms, endlessly scrawling away on tea-stained scrolls. We daily risk our lives, mixing corrosive acids with carcinogenic variants of benzene, grappling with explosive equipment and making mistakes, time and time again. I’ve become so adept at denaturing enzymes that I don’t even notice it’s happened until hours afterwards. Ultimately, scientists don’t know it all. We’ve never claimed to – except for Dr Cue and his cure for ADHD. Even though Science can be a complex, demanding and utterly depressing subject, next time you play ‘catch’ with your cloned child or wake up alive in a hospital bed, think of us.
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