Ah, you've hit on one of my pet peeves, so I for one am I going to have to disagree with the notion that a scientist -- any scientist -- can trump an artist such as Robert Burns.

You see, our schools today (at least in America) (and to some extent our society) have fallen victim to the "practical" approach. Our kids need to learn math and science, and if there's not enough room in the day or the budget to fit art and literature and music, so be it. And that's a tragic mistake.

The key to leading the way to the future is -- and always has been -- creativity. If all our children learn is how science purportedly works according to today's theories, they are doomed to live in the dismal "This is the way we've always done it" doldrums.

But if they are exposed to the arts, they can be people like Fleming and Florey, who brought creativity to science and created a breakthrough.

I'm glad Burns and others are able to inspire men and women like Fleming, but I'll vote for the inspirational over the inspired any day.