Almost all scientific discoveries come — directly or indirectly — from things that people at first thought to be strange, weird, crazy, stupid, and/or just plain wrong. This essay looks at a few of the zillions of examples:
“Oddball Science: Why Studies of Unusual Evolutionary Phenomena Are Crucial,” Patricia L.R. Brennan, Duncan J. Irschick, Norman Johnson, and R. Craig Albertson, BioScience, vol. 64, no. 3, March 2014, pp. 178–179. The authors explain:
The appeal of such criticism is obvious; at first glance, studies of odd evolutionary topics seem frivolous, even wasteful [but…]
The study of organisms typically centers on evolutionary innovations—the biological structures and phenomena that enable new functions or behaviors. These adaptations are often surprising and may seem bizarre, but they are the product of over 3 billion years of evolution and are often associated with the successful exploitation of new habitats. Studies of these seemingly oddball adaptations have jumpstarted myriad technological applications. They began, however, as basic scientific questions. Here, we highlight some examples that should be useful for anyone defending funding for basic biological research.