Now the literature in my area is pretty controversial. (You can appreciate _that_, especially since Bergbottom at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute bombarded you with criticisms of your theories.) Different and actually contradictory results have been obtained for the same substance in the same organism, _e. g._ alkaline phosphatase in the frog liver cell (Monnenblick, '55, Tripp, '56, and Stone, '57). To give an example, when I start a run for respiration effects using a Warburg I don't know what results to expect. Whenever this has been the case, my results have been confusing ... to say the least. On nitrogen-mustard treated cells, in some instances the controls respired significantly _more_--even with a statistical analysis of variance--in some instances the _experimentals_ respired significantly more; and in other cases the respiration for both was _exactly_ the same--even _closer_ than the expected deviations that should be found in any random population. One run, the blank run, _containing no cells_ ... and grease-free ... consumed the greatest amount of oxygen. To cut this letter short, the same inconstancies apply to other trials that I have made. Whenever I didn't know what to expect, and particularly where the literature was controversial, my results have been completely haywire. Needless to say, I was not happy with this so I discussed it with other graduate students. They have all encountered the _same thing_! But most professors won't admit this to be true and merely tell me that my technique is lousy. If anything, I am an overly careful worker. Why is it when I _know_ what results are expected, I get comparable results even on the _first_ trial? Remember, _I obtained the expected results_ when the literature wasn't confused or when my sponsor--a most important man in my life--gave me a clue as to what kind of results to expect. _Only then._ Now this is the heart of the matter.... The obvious explanation is the lack of experience. But, and this is what haunts me ... _what if those so-called contradictory results are meaningful_? What if they were executed with care--_and they were_--and are not the results of sloppiness or inexperience? _What if a nerve can twitch?_ Very respectfully yours, Jonathan Wells * * * * * May 3, 1958 Dr. Robert Von Engen, Editor, Journal of the National Academy of Sciences, Constitution Avenue, Washington, D. C. Dear Dr. Von Engen: