Another thought and technician to scientist

I believe that I am beginning to understand both the time and the intellectual price that must be paid to move from being a technician to a scientist. I believe that within a few days I could learn to return very nice images from the AFM and data from the XRD.

However to truly understand what I want, which tradeoffs I am willing to accept, that will take time. To comprehend the why of each setting, and to start to appreciate that every turn could lead to a new scientific principle is a journey that I am just beginning.

I thought I understood the scientific method, but now see that I have barely scratched the surface (AFM pun intended) of learning to reason my way through. I am starting to feel a spark in my brain that will cause me to question the things I know and read and make me look deeper into the reason of each detail.