Let’s talk about measurement. In order to understand and design better materials, in order to develop the technology to solve the problems we face today and will face tomorrow, the ability to accurately measure is key.
In my household, measurement has always held an out-sized place in the hierarchy of family concerns. I have a statistician-turned quality engineer-turned data scientist in my home. And because of that, we have spent more than a little time learning how to turn what some would consider mundane tasks into an opportunity to measure, measure, measure. The deck in our backyard was not just assembled. No. its construction was planned – using open-source CAD software – to use every possible inch of wood plank, thus achieving the absolute minimum amount of waste possible. And, there might have been an Easter egg hunt back in the day when certain children learned the fine points of a systematic search in order to optimize the possibility that eggs, hidden in a rather large peach orchard, would be discovered. The latest ways to analyze and measure things are big in my house. That’s why, when I read two recent articles about new ways of measuring molecules, I had to share.