A career in chemistry followed, where he could tinker with building molecules out of atoms. His work with carbon atoms led to the discovery of a soccer-ball shaped molecule of carbon dubbed buckminsterfullerene. He's one of the most creative minds in science today, yet he started with so many self-doubts. The Human Genome Project is a vast effort to understand what human DNA means. They talk about the enormity of the endeavor and how their individual contributions make a difference.
Science is as much at home in the desert as it is in the lab.
In the field, anthropologist and archaeologist Patricia Wattenmaker, a Pittsburgh native, uncovers lost civilizations and attempts to decipher everyday life in ancient cultures. Wattenmaker developed many specialized skills to pursue a holistic approach to research - putting together the clues found through animal bones, pottery shards, stone tools and settlement layout to develop an overall picture of the civilization. While most of the book focuses on university and research scientists, the chapter on Roberta Nichols talks about the life of an applied scientist. Nichols is an alternative fuels consultant who worked for Ford Motor Co. to develop cars that could run on ethanol, methanol or gasoline. She helped found the National Drag Boat Association, and for many years held the world drag boat speed record.