Science nerd

Nice quick trip to the library today. I got When God Was a Woman by Merlin Stone, The Double Helix by James D. Watson, and Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox.

Seems strange that I am a biologist and have never read The Double Helix. I know, I should probably be brought up on charges. I was glad to discover, though, that the library also carried a book about Rosalind Franklin whose work was used but not credited by Watson and Crick.

When I finally graduate and start teaching, I think I'd like to develop a course on the history of science. Today's courses focus on the new and groundbreaking, but I feel like very few students know/comprehend that the science of today stands on the shoulders of hundreds, even thousands, of years of discovery. Some of the greatest breakthroughs have come from simple yet elegant experiments -- e.g., my hero Gregor Mendel's peas.

Plans. I haz them.