See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise, you will only see what you were expecting. Most scientists forget that.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
If you do an experiment and it gives you what you did not expect, it is a discovery.
I always say, 'Let your experiment speak to you.' What I mean by that is I - actually, we, or, at least, I'm not smart enough, actually, to guess how nature is working, but by looking and doing the right experiments and paying close attention to the subtleties of it, you start to catch on.
Scientific inquiry starts with observation. The more one can see, the more one can investigate.
If you look at the scientists who really make a difference, they think boldly. They're not afraid to question what they see.
Traditional scientific method has always been at the very best, 20 - 20 hindsight. It's good for seeing where you've been. It's good for testing the truth of what you think you know, but it can't tell you where you ought to go.
You want to come up with your own points of view first and then test them against what you see.
Everybody, as soon as they do a good experiment, their first thought in this lab is, 'That can't be right. I must have screwed it up. What did I do wrong?' And that's the best kind of scientist because they're filled with this self-doubt. And if I'm going to be honest, that's who I am. And it's what drives me.
I try to examine everything to see if there's another approach.
Sometimes you can fail in an experiment. But if you fail, you still don't stop observing that thing, looking for a better way.
It is crucial for scientists to be willing to be wrong; otherwise, you might not do the most important experiments, or you may ignore your most important findings.