"Science, Skepticism, and the Benefits of Random Knowledge"

Most people, even scientists themselves, would have a hard time coming up with a good definition of "science".  This is because "science" is rather difficult to define!  Additionally, many scientists undervalue one of the primary tools of their trade:  a healthy dose of skepticism.  But properly applied, skepticism is a useful tool for everyone, to be applied in almost every walk of life.  Finally, why do scientists need to know so much?  We'll answer that question, as well as present a few examples of advances in science that benefitted from seemingly random knowledge.

David W. Ball is a  professor of chemistry at Cleveland State University.  He got his Ph.D. from Rice University, and after some post-doctoral research at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab he joined the faculty at CSU.  His teaching effectiveness has been recognized by teaching awards at the departmental, college, and university levels.  His research interest include computational chemistry of high energy materials.  He has over 170 publications, equally split between research papers and publications of more educational applications, including 5 books currently in print.  Dr. Ball is active in his professional society, the American Chemical Society, having just served as Chair of the Cleveland Section ACS for 2009.