While automated technology has many advantages in protecting us from mundane time consuming tasks there are some advantages to the mindless activities such as collecting chromatography fractions. I was reminded of this this morning as I was collecting fractions and thinking about the confusion of a reaction that appears to have three mechanistic routes competing with each other. I have been thinking about this problem for a couple of weeks and suddenly out of nowhere
Balwin's Rules came to mind. Immediately I realized that Balwin's Rules fit my data and could act as a linchpin to give a less confusing explanation of the issues at hand than the one I recently gave in a group meeting.
Perhaps the best scientists don't need to allow problems to percolate to find the answer coming to them in
dreams or while collecting tubes, but it sure happens to me frequently. As automation takes away the mundane will science suffer from less fraction collection inspired ideas? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
T.S. Hall
I thought about this the other day also, all the thinking that goes on during fraction collection. A few people will get something out of the thoughts that occur during that time. But most students just become kind of bitter about it. It's automated anyway in industry so WTF?
ReplyDeleteI just got automated chromatography going in my lab, so I'm all for it, though I'll miss the wondering thoughts.