Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

Physical biochemist Oliver Smithies has a tradition of running “Saturday morning experiments” in which he spends weekend hours playing round with equipment and materials rather than pursuing his formal work. These explorations led to several innovations, such as “gel electrophoresis,” a method for breaking down DNA, which he developed by playing around with starch compounds. He received the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and attributes his impact on science to his curiosity about everything and willingness to explore, even if most explorations lead to failure.

Tu Youyou won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work on treatments for malaria that are based on a traditional herbal remedy: sweet wormwood. Youyou achieved this despite the fact she had no postgraduate degree, research experience abroad, or membership in a Chinese academy of science. Like Smithies, Youyou succeeded because she was willing to think and work outside of expected paths.

Epstein points to other examples of researchers who took a deliberately amateurish approach to working and/or promoted such an approach like Smithies. Yet microbiologist Arturo Casadevall warned his peers that scientific progress had slowed, and retractions of scientific research were becoming more frequent despite the fact specialization was increasing.