How Simple Ideas Lead to Scientific Discoveries

Great talk by Adam Savage of MythBusters fame. Key quote: “Whenever I am having trouble understanding a concept, I go back and research the people who discovered that concept. I look at the story of how they came to understand it”. This key technique is usually lacking in education. We need to trace the thought patterns of the creators of all discoveries which will teach students to think like them. They might even see where they might have fallen short and continue a line of research if need be. Right now we simply drop bunch of cooked up end results on a student’s lap and expect them to “know”, and “use” these results, similar to the way we give people finished industrial products for consumers to just “use” and consume.

https://youtu.be/F8UFGu2M2gM