University of Texas Medical Branch

UTMB is the University of Texas's biomedical research institution located in Galveston. This must be an excellent instittution, I'm going on reputation as I do not know anyone personally who works, goes to, or talks about UTMB, but their summer program URL indicates excellence in the field.

As I was skimming their application for a 2006 summer undergraduate research position, I came across the two essay topics, one of which really intrigued me.

The question read as follows: "Please describe what you consider the most significant scientific advance you have read or heard about in the last year. (No longer than 100 words.)*"

Now that's a fine question ... but the first time I read it I thought that it asked for "the most significant scientific advice you have read" in the last year, and my thoughts began to run with that.

I now realize that that's not the question and I'm going to have to come up with something a little less inspirational and a little more technical and cutting edge, but I figured that I would share what I think to be the best piece of scientific advice right here.
(They're really missing out ... maybe they'll see the blog ... right.)

"Know how to solve every problem that has been solved."
- Richard Feynman

I came across this quote in Stephen Hawking's Universe in a Nutshell and believe it to be the best advice on science I've ever heard. If one were truly familiar with the solution to each problem even in their own discipline, then great scientific breakthroughs would truly abound, once we all got out of school at 60, but you know, relatively speaking, those final 10 years that we actually got out and did something may be more productive than those we could have just shooting in the dark.

Of course, this is why you specialize, but still - wouldn't it be something to know how to solve every problem that's been solved?

Good advice, Dr. Feynam.