I was never any good at science, whether it was dissecting a frog or-God help me-completing a science-fair project. My personal nadir came on a chemistry exam in high school. I like to think my score of eight points out of a possible 100 remains, these many decades later, the worst officially posted number in the history of the school. Which is why, back in 1998, I had mixed feelings about meeting with the author of a soon-to-bepublished historical novel about 17th-century scientists.
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