I was recently attending a function and had to go to the bathroom. Resting in the bathroom was a National Geographic from 2001 which I picked up and started browsing. (Yogi Berra is quoted as saying “You can observe a lot by just watching.” Well, it's amazing what you can find by just looking around with an open mind.)
The issue had an article entitled “Silicon Valley: inside the dream incubator.” I started skimming it and read about the writer's interview with a biochemist. The biochemist had developed a type of flow cytometer for determining how well a cell was reacting to a certain antibiotic. His meter was about the size of a hatbox and was about one-twentieth the size of his competitors' meters. Not only was his meter significantly smaller than those of his competitors, it was also cheaper.
The writer asked him: “Explain the kick.” His response:
Creativity is creativity whether you feel it as a biochemist or as an attorney. Hopefully, some of the postings in this blog will help you have more thrills from successful “out-of-the-box"” problem solving.
Source: National Geographic, December 2001, volume 200, issue 6, page 52.
P.S. You can go to Yogi's “Official Web Site” and see some of his other famous quotes. One of those is his admonition: “Never answer an anonymous letter.” (One of my Yogi favorites is his warning: “Always go to other people's funerals. Otherwise they won't come to yours.”)