Everything I needed to know about science I learned in Driver's Ed.
By Wendy Chao
ARTICLE EXTRAS
My most influential teacher may be my high school "driver's ed" instructor. Mr. Ashdown, a formidable man who doubled as the football coach, told his pupils something simple, yet more profound than parallel parking: "To be a good driver, you have to learn to think like one."
With parking mastered, I've found this lesson applies appropriately to science. Transitioning from classroom to laboratory requires more than what's in textbooks; great scientists have a knack for reasoning beyond conventional wisdom. Andrew Fire and Craig Mello displayed this knack when they discovered RNAi - a fascinating, unexpected breakthrough that revolutionized biology. By chronicling this and other major developments of the last decade, Recombinant DNA - A Short Course goes beyond textbook teaching to present the intangibles in science. James Watson spearheads the 3rd edition; along with ...
