The Spirit of Science I

I was reading a speech by Robert Lefkowitz to the American Society of Clinical Investigation entitled "The Spirit of Science." He argues that the spirit of science has three main elements: enthusiasm, creativity, and integrity. "True enthusiasm for what we do, a real passion for new knowledge, is an empowering trait. It confers the ability, or rather the willingness, to tackle difficult and challenging problems." As for creativity, he claims that unexpected insights and curious intuitions play a pivotal role in the framework of the scientific method and cool, clear-headed logic. We need to let this synergistic action guide our studies. "It is, in fact, from the fresh minds of our least experienced students and fellows, who are unencumbered by the dogmas and paradigms of our particular fields, that the most innovative and intuitive ideas are likely to spring, for it is they who are most likely to question assumptions that we have long ago accepted." He says that "luck in science is little more than the cumulative effects of intuition, creativity, and serendipity [which is] the gift of finding valuable things that are not specifically sought." This of course refers to the often described experience where data is unexpected and a researcher investigates further, eventually making some groundbreaking discovery. Lastly, Lefkowitz acknolwedges the importance of integrity, "an unswerving commitment to what we perceive as true and right, and to a set of consistent, personally realized principles of action." I really like what he writes (I also like him as a person), and often think about it with relation to whether science is what I want to pursue in life.