Most of the time I've worked in labs if I didn't encounter something in a week entirely unexpected and surprising I'd consider it a lost week. Lots of that is due to mistakes and stupidity, but it could open a new line of inquiry. Something really good turns up once in a hundred times, but it makes the whole day worthwhile.

(He also won a Christopher Award for that book. He also publiLewis Thomasd a book on entomology entitled Et Cetera Et Cetera poems and numerous scientific papers. In its first paperback edition The Medusa and the Snail won another National Book Award in Science.

Lewis Thomas (November 25 1913 – December 3 1993) was a physician poet etymologist essayist administrator educator policy advisor and researcher. (He also won a Christopher Award for that book. The Lewis Thomas Prize is awarded annually by The Rockefeller University to a scientist for artistic achievement.