The Lab Ryan Esparza

The first time that science really made sense was in seventh grade, when a frog lay splayed out on the desk in front of me. While the stench of formaldehyde made others eyes water and stomachs churn, I was too fascinated to notice. I was intrigued by the frog’s still form and innards arranged in neat array under the flap I had incised in its abdomen. Inside were precise engineering marvels, finer than the gearings within a Swiss watch, each perfectly evolved through a process I had only read about and never truly understood. Here was the basis for religion, the faith in a higher power that actually represents faith in the innumerable and incomprehensible wonders of nature.

I have always enjoyed observing patterns: the point and counterpoint in Beethoven's 15th string quartet and the intricate fingerings and crescendo in his Kreutzer sonata, as well as the rise and fall of the empires of history. However, my favorite patterns have always been found in science, in particular, (Phi) “The Golden Ratio” and its divine implementation throughout Nature, from Da Vinci’s study of the human body to Zeising’s study on plants.

But what if the pattern, the exquisite creation, breaks? What if something goes wrong, an artery bursts, the...