W
hen as children we
learn the shapes of
the stars, we learn more
than their positions and
their names. We learn a
different way of seeing. A
scatter of points becomes
a picture, and that picture
becomes a guide.
As physicians and
scientists, we carry
this lesson through our
careers. We correlate.
We simplify. We elaborate
and reduce. We isolate
points in the static of
variables and draw
lines of cause and effect
between them. And so
doing, we reveal what was
there all along.