CHICAGO — Triological Society President Gerald Berke, MD, turned to the words of science greats in his President’s Address, delivering an inspirational talk on scientific research at the society’s Annual Meeting, held here on April 29 as part of the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meetings.
He told the audience that, while diligence and hard work are essential in research, so are a sense of wonder and an open mind.
Dr. Berke delivered rapid-fire quotations to drive home his points on topics from motivation to the process of research, from methodology to the importance of questioning in science.
“So many have contributed to our society that I thought it would be a useful exercise to see what scientific attributes our members and researchers should strive for,” said Dr. Berke, chief of the head and neck surgery division at the University of California Los Angeles.
On Research Motivation
His favorite quotes: “I am on the verge of mysteries, and the veil which covers them is getting thinner and thinner. The nights seem to me too long.” (La Vie de Pasteur, René Vallery-Radot)
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.” (Albert Einstein)
Dr. Berke’s take: “Pretty heady words from Professor Einstein.”
The Process of Research
His favorite quotes: “Basic research is what I am doing when I don’t know what I am doing.” (Wernher Von Braun)
“If we knew what we were doing it wouldn’t be research.” (Einstein)
“Every honest researcher I know admits he’s just a professional amateur. He’s doing whatever he’s doing for the first time. That makes him an amateur. He has sense enough to know that he’s going to have a lot of trouble, so that makes him a professional.” (Charles Franklin Kettering)
Dr. Berke’s take: “Many young people seem to think that the process is very formalized, with formal logic and formal reason. But as you read them [the quotes], you realize that, for the most part, they’re just trying out new ideas and concepts.”
On the Scientific Method
His favorite quotes: “… it doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are—if it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.” (R. P. Feynman)
“No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.” (Einstein)
Dr. Berke’s take: “The scientific method was a procedure developed in the 17th century… which involves careful observation, the development of hypotheses and then the testing of those hypotheses by experimentation. Certainly the scientific method reigns supreme among researchers.”
On Imagination, Intuition and Luck
His favorite quotes: “Hope lies in dreams, in imagination and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.” (Jonas Salk)
“Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.” (John Dewey)
“Reason alone will not serve. Intuition alone can be improved by reason, but reason alone without intuition can easily lead the wrong way. They both are necessary.” (Jonas Salk)
“Chance favors the prepared mind.” (Pasteur)
Dr. Berke’s take: “It’s surprising to me how these humanistic, artistic, creative traits play such an important role in famous researchers and scientists.”
On Questioning in Science
His favorite quotes: “It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it.” (Jacob Bronowski)
“Everything is theoretically impossible until it is done. One could write a history of science in reverse by assembling the solemn pronouncements of highest authority about what could not be done and could never happen.” (Robert Heinlein)
Dr. Berke’s take: “Questioning seems to be the foundation upon which progress seems to occur in science.”
On Tenacity
“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.” (Neils Bohr)
“Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” (Thomas Edison)
Dr. Berke’s take: “Most of the famous researchers and scientists that I came across, once they set their mind on a goal, they could not be dissuaded. They just carried through until the end, no matter what they had to do.”
On Ideas
His favorite quotes: “Keep on the lookout for novel ideas that others have used successfully. Your idea has to be original only in its adaptation to the problem you’re working on.” (Thomas Edison)
“In science the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurred.” (Sir William Osler)
Dr. Berke’s take: “Ideas are a dime a dozen. It depends on what you do with those ideas, how you bring those ideas to fruition, that’s important.”
On Knowledge
His favorite quotes: “By the time most scientists have reached age 30 they are trapped by their own expertise. They have invested so much effort in one particular field that it is often extremely difficult, at that time in their careers, to make a radical change. I, on the other hand, knew nothing, except for a basic training in somewhat old-fashioned physics and mathematics and an ability to turn my hand to new things…. Since I essentially knew nothing, I had an almost completely free choice.” (Francis Crick)
Dr. Berke’s take: “Imagine the disciplines and the new domains that Francis Crick had to learn in order to become one of the world’s first successful molecular geneticists. And I think every scientist recognizes that even though [he or she is] looking at a very focused area, he needs to really explore a broad horizon in order to really come to successful conclusions.”
Take-Home Points
In summary, Dr. Berke said a researcher and Triological Society member should enjoy the creation of new knowledge and appreciate life’s mysteries. He or she should also be a staunch supporter of the scientific method but understand that research is often fraught with “blind alleys.”
Researchers, he added, should recognize that “chance favors the prepared mind” and should always be on the lookout for novel ideas framed by a comprehension of existing knowledge, not just in one domain, but across a broad horizon of disciplines.”