Word of the day

On my way to the lab I bumped into Alex, our local workaholic. Normally he scurries around in the lab at any hour, wearing a lab coat, safety goggles and protective gloves, doing sciency things the professor from the Muppet Show would not be ashamed of. You know, things with expensive machines and fume cupboards and lots of glasswork and liquids he makes change colour. The lot! But this time he was carrying around some non-descript lumpy bits, and voiced the intention to bludgeon these into smithereens. And he described that as “bucket science”. Bucket science! I love it. I have a weak spot for expensive machines, but the other extreme is very charming as well. It made me think of the best temperature record from the Arabian Sea I have. I asked the guy who had produced it what equipment he had used to obtain it. He gave me a bit of a funny look and said “well, a bucket, a rope and a thermometer!” Bucket science avant la lettre!