Kary Mullis: Celebrating the scientific experiment

http://www.ted.com Biochemist Kary Mullis talks about the basis of modern science: the experiment. Sharing tales from the 17th century and from his own backyard-rocketry days, Mullis celebrates the curiosity, inspiration and rigor of good science in all its forms.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Kary
• Mullis
• TED
• TEDtalks
• talks
• Curiosity
• Dna
• History
• Rocket
• Science
• Technology

[ccr5cxcr4]

LOL Reggie. Why don't YOU explain the implications of a tyramine rich diet in a person taking MAOIs. I mean, it isn't a difficult topic. You should be able to figure it out in a few hours, even if you don't know now.

That is the difference, son, between you and me. I am a man, a doctor, a good citizen & well respected in my field.

You are a fraud, and you know it. Now whine some more.

[ccr5cxcr4]

@transtlantic Oh sure. I work at Grady a lot. Am associated with Emory. And I FREQUENTLY go to England, France, and ironically enough Russia to learn the best techniques.

And you are correct, most care is not Mayo, CC, or Emory level. My Mother goes to her local family doc, but if something comes up that scares me, then I call a friend & get the ball rolling so she can come to Emory immediately. It isn't fair, I know, but that is how it is.

[algerhistogram]

wow it's stupendous how he undermines his whole talk at the end. His main theme is "when you want to find something out, do the science" but then he waves his hands and claims global warming is "trash" because of measuring stations being in bad locations. But he never gave any evidence for that, he just assumed that's what was going on. And of course after the science was actually DONE, that idea was proven to be bunk. He was wrong. He should have listened to himself and done some science!

[crudhousefull]

Omg I can't believe these Rolex advertisements. Who the hell's paying for crap like this? I'm sure it's a competitor trying to tarnish its image...no way they'd made ads this crappy otherwise

[FreeGluon]

@johnhassle 1 person can't speak English.

[timeofmind]

@mykoolaidtastesfunny

Thanks. I somehow doubt that gatoradeee really cares. He appears to have a dislike for the man delivering the message and no interest in the message.

[timeofmind]

gatoradeee,

To quote the guy you are criticizing:

"It isn't important to know who Isaac Newton was. He discovered that force is equal to mass times acceleration. He was an antisocial, crazy bastard who wanted to burn down his parents' house. But force is still equal to mass times acceleration. It can be demonstrated by anybody with a pool table and familiar with Newton's concepts."

[mykoolaidtastesfunny]

@timeofmind If you don't hit "reply" people won't know you replied to them. The @ comes up automatically when you do that

[timeofmind]

gatoradeee,

I don't get how you could be against the pursuit of understanding by logic, unbiased research, and verifiable evidence; and I don't understand the benefit of disregarding logical argument on the basis of personal character.

[wrldpaul]

Excellent presentation! Indeed, science should be driven more by curiosity than by attachment to desired theoretical outcomes. The latter will most always produce untrustworthy and suspect conclusions.

[meanmoegel87]

It's cool because dr Mullis is practically quoting his autobiography... then again, what do we know better than our own life?

PS autobiography title: "Dancing Naked In The Mind Field"