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SCIENCE UNSHACKLED: HOW OBSCURE, ABSTRACT, SEEMINGLY USELESS SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH TURNED OUT TO BE THE BASIS FOR MODERN LIFE by C. Renée James Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, 2014, 198 pp. ISBN: 978-1-4214-1500-0
Curious people, given the time and resources to search for answers to what could seemingly be obscure questions, can create new knowledge that may be the key to transformational change. Consider the compelling story of a farm boy who grew up in the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the early 19th century. Rather than taking up farming for a living, in accordance with his father's wishes, this young man, drawn by the appeal of monastic living, joined an abbey. However, Gregor Mendel did not take very well to being a parish priest. Despite his desire and ability to study science and mathematics, he could not pass the requisite certification exams to become a full-time teacher. Without a suitable traditional priestly vocation, Mendel found himself with plenty of time as well as financial support to explore what he thought to be a pressing question: How do observable traits pass from one generation to the next? Mendel would have preferred using mice for his study; however, it was too far a step for the...