Questions are bigger than answers. One good question can give rise to several layers of answers, can inspire decades-long searches for solutions, can generate whole new fields of inquiry, and can prompt changes in entrenched thinking. Answers, on the other hand, often end the process.
Stuart Firestein’s book Ignorance: How It Drives Science offers a valuable perspective to educators. Through fascinating examples of scientific experiments and discoveries, he makes a powerful case for the central role uncertainty plays in driving science. “Want to be on the cutting edge?” he writes, “Well, it’s all, or mostly, ignorance out there. Forget the answers. Work on the questions.” Great scientific discoveries often emerge from experiments that “fail.” While…
