LESSONS FROM RESEARCH 1

As they say about fine wines, you can never know what the experience of drinking them is until you actually take a sip. I may know all their chemistry, have a smokin knowledge about the detailed geography of all the wines in the world, and read and assimilate a hundred texts on wine composition and flavour. But me the non-winer still won't know what it is that inspired Vino Vita Veritas until I let the spirits flow down my throat and prance around in my bloodstream.

And so it is for research. All the books that you can read about Newton, Darwin, telescopes, DNA and nuclear fission won't prepare you for research. I am not implying that that means research is something for the chosen few, only that just like for other endeavors, you won't ever really know what details really matter until you do it. For some reason, all the books that I read about science never told me about the gory details involved and for a good reason, because that may have scared the wits out of my already feeble mind. But now that I am here, I have learnt a few things that they did not mention in the books. These matter now because they are so trivial that they actually turn out to be important. So here are a few humble words from an almost broken spirit (not the liquid one, again).

1. It's the simple things that matter:
Of course we knew this. It's so simple, isn't it? That's precisely why it is forgotten. More than once have I had the entire plan for a project or calculation well organised in my mind, ticked all the assumptions, requirements, and protocols in my head, and then begun the calculation or experiment, when I realise that I have forgotten to do the simplest possible thing- note down a value, check/uncheck some box, or used the wrong unit in adding two numbers. While that makes me want to tear my hair out, it's also a sober reminder of how there is great beauty in simplicity as Einstein said, or in this case, great frustration.

2. Physical and mental presence in the lab is not an option:
The bad thing about drudgery is that it's boring. The good thing is that you can mechanically do it like a robot, without really thinking about it. The bad thing about the good thing is that you may end up doing the wrong thing. Case in point; I was delighted that my results for one molecule were looking exactly the same as those for another molecule, a desired objective. But then I began to wonder...the results look exactly the same. No wonder! I was actually looking at the same molecule in both cases. Oranges will certainly turn out to be apples, if what you are looking at are apples in the first place. Another three hours consigned to glare from the monitor. Sometimes, with enough practice, you can actually get away with doing tedious, routine work in a zombie like manner. But it's hard work becoming a zombie. Well known axiom to this principle- always ntuple (the nth power of double) check your results if they look too good to be true. I don't want to become another Bengu Sezen, albeit a dramatically less attractive non-Middle Eastern one.

3. Write it down:
Another simple piece of advice, often avoided because of the time lag between writing speed and thinking speed. But actually, it turns out to be refreshingly easy to simply state in plain English what you have found (or not found). I could summarize last two month's work in two pages today (And no, I won't answer your question about how much work I actually accomplished in two months). I am notoriously prone to not accurately documenting my work regularly. But now I have found out that not only is it going to save me a nightmare later, but also that it's actually not too difficult. The language in such summaries need not be technical, although it helps to formulate accurate statements that would give you practice in writing scientific papers.

4. Common sense really is uncommon. No, really. No, really:
And somehow, I always find myself on the receiving end of this statement. However, more often than not, such a lapse in common sense is simply because you (actually me) are too eager and enthusiastic to obtain results, run your protocol, or make your point. The yet one more simple remedy for this: Surveillance should precede saltation (Or Look Before You Leap)

More to come soon, since I will keep on making mistakes.