Survival Arts

So many sleepwalkers

This is one of those "don't get me started" moments, but I'm compelled to comment with fascinated horror at the number of fellow students who will follow the letter of a laboratory procedure but not understand in the least what is happening on the bench in front of them. I can't believe the number of students who don't understand that if they're assaying for a peak absorbance, and you don't find it in the range suggested by the lab manual, you keep measuring until and after peak until you find that crucial number. I think the term "laboratory investigation" should be stressed over "laboratory procedure." The former is science; the latter is sleepwalking.