Any living cell carries with it the experience of a billion years of experimentation by its ancestors.
Max DelbruckRead
A strong feeling of adventure is animating those who are working on bacterial viruses, a feeling that they have a small part in the great drive towards a fundamental problem in biology.
Interpretation
The quote expresses the excitement and importance of scientific exploration, particularly in the field of biology.
Max Delbruck emphasizes the thrill and significance scientists feel while researching bacterial viruses, suggesting that their contributions are integral to understanding major biological challenges. This sense of adventure motivates them to participate in the broader quest for knowledge in biology and the mysteries of life.
In practice
In a speech about scientific exploration at a conference, one could mention this quote to inspire young scientists.
Any living cell carries with it the experience of a billion years of experimentation by its ancestors.
There are so many intricacies to our brain that won't be understood unless we start to look at the system as a whole. All these different details don't operate in isolation.
Based on the science, you can make somewhat clear statements: The number of people who can survive on six hours of sleep without impairment is zero.
"Half genius and half buffoon," Freeman Dyson ... wrote. ... [Richard] Feynman struck him as uproariously American-unbuttoned and burning with physical energy. It took him a while to realize how obsessively his new friend was tunneling into the very bedrock of modern science.
There is no controversy within science over the core proposition of evolutionary theory.
Nuclear power plants must be prepared to withstand everything from earthquakes to tsunamis, from fires to floods to acts of terrorism.
What I want to do is demonstrate that biology can learn how to make a vast array of molecules that people thought were outside the realm of biology.
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