Were some superadvanced alien civilization to swoop down to Earth with the definitive explanation of everything in the cosmos, there'd be excitement at first-it would be thrilling to have answers to questions we've tussled with through the ages. But in short order, scientists worldwide would be utterly depressed. With no remaining mysteries, the scientific journey would halt. Whenever I speak about this to middle and high school students, I am struck by how surprising they find it. To the vast majority, science is solely about answers-the material that's sandwiched between the covers of their textbooks. It's understandable. For the most part, we teach science as if it were a technical trade: Learn these facts about cells. Memorize these equations describing motion.
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