Dec

16

science is not all fast-paced action

Tagged Under : , ,

Today I spent two hours watching a scientist do incredibly tedious work. The time actually went really fast – she does this incredibly tedious work all the time, but to me it was all new and I had a lot to figure out:

What are you pipetting?

science

(Sodium hydroxide solution.)

What’s that machine called?

it rotates

(A rotator.)

What are those pretty liquids?

not buffens

(Buffers.)

What’s in those tanks?

arrrrr

(Argon.)

Actually, she thought the time went fast, too. So not only did I pick up a scene for a story I’m writing, I served a purpose: entertaining the postdoc.

0 Comments  | Posted by : Helen
Read More

Post a comment

About Helen Fields

I'm a freelance writer living in Washington, D.C. Well, that's where my apartment is. I spent six weeks last spring on an icebreaker in the Bering Sea. Then I spent two months in Berlin on a journalism fellowship. Now I think I might stay home for a while.