Scientific progress depends on imagining what might be true based on what we know right now, and then testing it. That’s why scientific advice can change, and why science students need to learn to think creatively, not just memorize what’s already been discovered. In this talk, Jessica Bolker reveals what Darwin’s missing links have to do with peptic ulcers, changing Covid guidelines, and the need for creative writing projects in science classes.
Professor Bolker is an evolutionary and developmental biologist who got distracted by philosophy. Educated at Yale, UC Berkeley, and Oxford, she is an award-winning faculty member at the University of New Hampshire and the originator of the Fictional Species Project as a core assignment for evolution students. Whether you think science is fascinating, boring, or too hard, this talk is for you.
