Why I write
I started writing in September 2024, not to gain followers, but to reflect, write and share my story. My first audience is my children, so that someday they know who I was as a scientist, not just their dad. My other audience is my fellow scientist in the lab: the one tirelessly searching for the most accurate data, who never gets the accolades.
Analytically Speaking is that story: thirty years of lab life, what it taught me, in my own words.
Foundations is for anyone who works in a lab, whether technician, analyst, chemist or manager. Most people in a lab aren't unwilling; they just need someone to teach them. These pieces are meant to move you from “push button, report results” to “analyze sample, process data, ensure quality, report results.” I started as a lab analyst with a two-year degree. Everything here is something I had to learn by doing.
Reading with a pen
I once planned a hardcover that came with a pen, because a good book is meant to be written in. A page on a screen should be no different.
When something you read stops you, it's usually something you want to understand, to research, or to share. So the pen is built in. I was never a good student when it came to taking notes, so I built the notes into the page: say it in your own words, write down the question it answers, and come back later to see if you can still answer it.
Use it or don't. It takes seconds. But a few notes, added over time, turn reading into learning, and that's how you unlock what you're capable of.
How to use this site
It takes seconds, and every tool is optional.
- The chromatogram is the map. Each peak is a subject, in the order of an analysis. Tap one to see its pieces.
- Read with a pen. Select any passage, or tap ✎ and then a sentence:
- Understand: put it in your own words and write the question it answers.
- Research: see where the idea shows up across the site.
- Share: send someone straight to that passage.
- Ask Michael: send me your question about it.
- Quiz yourself. Open Notes, then Quiz me. Your own questions come back with the answers hidden. Students who test themselves remember far more than students who reread.
- Check yourself. Each Foundations article ends with a few questions. Answer in your head, open the answer, and add any of them to Quiz me. Terms in a gold dotted underline define themselves.
- Make it comfortable. Aa sets the text size and light or dark.
- Sign in only if you want to. Your notes then follow you to any device. What we keep.
How hard could it be?