make n

HOWTOMAKESENSEOUTOFSCIENCE

newdrugskillcancerl

devastionbyE1Nino--awarning

6:r26.2028:Couldthisbethedeadlinefortheapocalyp?

whentheheadlineappearedthisyear,theirstoriesbecamethesubjectsof

ethe

newsmeanthepeoplenever

hadtoworryaboutcanceragain?orthatweallhadtoworryaboutacatastrophefrom

outerspaceor,moreimmediately,frome1nino?

unfortunately,sciencedoesn'lyarrivesatfinal

battlingcancerorvictimsofe1ninomayfindthis

frustrating(cau(sb.)tofeeldiscouragedordisappointed;prevent(sb.)fromdoingor

achievingsth),butthetruthisthatnaturedoesnotyield(reveal;produceorprovide)her

isistestedby

come,onehopes,resultsinanincreainknowledge.

scienceisnotatofunquestionableresultsbutawayofunderstandingthe

lworkisslow.(1)thescientificmethod,asmanyofuslearned

inschool,isagradualprocessthatbeginswithapurpooraproblemorquestionto

udesalistofmaterials,aproceduretofollow,atofobrvations

tomakeand,finally,cine,whenanewdrugispropod

thatmightcureorcontroladia,itisfirsttestedonalargerandomgroupofpeople,

andtheirreactionsarethencomparedwiththoofanotherrandomgroupnotgivethe

ctionsinbothgroupsarecarefullyrecordedandcompared,andthedrugis

evaluated(asss).allofthistakestime--andpatience.

it'kesthebestnews--nottheyearsofquietworkthat

characterizethebulk(themainorlargestpart;(largenessof)size)ofscientific

nexperimentisconcludedoranobrvationismade,theresult

issubmittedforpublication,itgoestoa

groupofthescientist'scolleagues,orkisimportant

enough,justbeforethereportispublishedinaprofessionaljournalorreadata

conference,apressreleaisissuedandanannouncementismadetotheworld.

theworldmaythinkthattheannouncementsignifiestheendoftheprocess,butit

doesn'cationisreallyachallenge:"ewrong!"(2)other

reacherswilltrytorepeattheexperiment,andthemoreoftenitworks,thebetterthe

inwasrightwhenhesaid:"noamountof

experimentatiioncaneverprovemeright;asingleexperimentcanatanytime

provemewrong."

inaugust1996,nasaannouncedthediscoveryinantarcticaofameteoritefrom

marsthatmightcontainevidencofancientlifeonanotherworld.(3)aspresident

clintonsaidthatday,thepossibilitythatlifeexistedonmarsbillionsofyearsagowas

potentiallyoneofthegreatdiscoveriesofourtime.

aftertheexcitementworedownandinitialpaperswerepublished,other

reachersbeganlookingatsamplesfromthesamemeteorite.(4)someconcludedthat

the"evidenceoflife"wasmostlycontaminationfromantarcticiceorthattherewas

nothingorganicatallintherock.

wasthisafailureofscience,assomenewsreportstrumpeted?

no!itwasagoodexampleofthescientificmethodworkingthewayitis

istsspendyearsonreach,announcetheirfindings,andthe

'imbinga

mountain,'saprocessfilledwith

disappointmentsandrevers,butsomehowwekeepmovingahead.