Infectious Processes was the most enjoyable and educational class I attended while at university. I attended three institutions of higher learning (in stark contrast to the other institutions I have been asked to attend). All of them introduced classes that cracked open my brain and jammed sweet information into its crevasses. During these classes there were sparks going off in my brain. I would walk out of class smiling so wide my head hurt. I had just heard, seen or learned something I completely understood yet never imagined before. The quantity of new information swirling in my brain could only result in endorphin overload. This must be why newborns seem to radiate and smile for no apparent reason. When senses are on joyous overload, what else can happen? Infectious Process was just that way. Dr. Mike Sweeney was a direct and blunt teacher with a clear goal in mind. To make us wonder and search for answers.
He was a researcher in Immunology just at the start of the AIDS epidemic. He announced in class “This disease will change the way we look at diseases, all diseases FOREVER”. He was sort of shaking when he said it. His senses were overloading. He admitted having very little idea of how AIDS worked or what it was. He was freakin excited about finding out. He was going to find out and he was dragging us along with his tidal wave of enthusiasm. First he needed to show us how to do research. He gave us published papers on topics ranging from blood diseases to immune responses in goats. Each week, he would ask us what we thought about the papers. He had a surprise for us, some of the papers were published but were incompetent works of drivel. We did not see it and he showed us why they were garbage. Some were excellent and he showed us why they were worth reading. Well, smack me with an artichoke, I never imagined an article in a prestigious and cited scientific journal could be cattle dung scientifically speak. Now read with experience and wisdom.
Most of the bad papers tried to answer more than one question with the research. Answer one question or solve one problem at a time then you can move on to the next one. Answering that one question will generate possibly hundreds of new questions. Later on Ralph Prince, another great teacher of the scientific method said challenging research for a good scientist. Ralph would “stir the pot” as he would say whenever some fancy scientist would act like they had “all” the answers. Maybe Ralph did not know all the answers but neither did the fool on the hill.
For those who want to succeed as a scientist, hear is the short list.
Read everything remotely related, know what you know and do not know.
Learn and solve one question at a time.
Remember, you do not know everything.
The best simple reference for the Scientific Method is by Norman Edmund
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