Learning from the Uncontrollable

Research papers are usually revisionist histories, imagined accounts driven by impeccable logic and unbroken experimental success, which in no way reflect the slowness, messiness, and serendipity of real life in the lab. To give a different hopefully more balanced perspective than what is often told, I want to tell you the story behind some of the discoveries that shaped my early career.“In reality, of course, I had stumbled on the control by complete accident.”