There is a basic rule in Science Fiction that any science presented in a fictional manner is grossly over-simplified. One basic reason for this is that from a five-hundred word essay to the longest Peter Jackson Blockbuster there is simply not enough time or space to give any scientific theory sufficient development be it Newtonian gravity or faster than light gravity. There is another related reason, scientific theories can be clean and simple but observed reality rarely is. The tests that crime scene investigators run frequently give false positives and false nagitives; to the point that even fingerprint data is being called into question in some circles.
As for my little corner of science it should be fairly simple right? I identify plants. Plants that for the most part have been documented for two to ten hundred years. Should be if not easy than at least straightforward right? Well the third or fourth step in any identification book is to count the number of petals. Five petals means one thing and six or four or three means something else. Then nature throws me a flowering plant with five and six or five and four petals on the same stem...Seriously count em up.
Science, the nitty-gritty hands on version, always finds a way to throw you for a loop.
As for my little corner of science it should be fairly simple right? I identify plants. Plants that for the most part have been documented for two to ten hundred years. Should be if not easy than at least straightforward right? Well the third or fourth step in any identification book is to count the number of petals. Five petals means one thing and six or four or three means something else. Then nature throws me a flowering plant with five and six or five and four petals on the same stem...Seriously count em up.
Science, the nitty-gritty hands on version, always finds a way to throw you for a loop.
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