There is a famous (and often misquoted) line from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” which reads, “Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink.”

We learned in science class that we should use the scientific method to evaluate hypotheses. Yet somehow, once we enter industry we throw that early learning out the window and fall prey to several pitfalls in experimentation and data interpretation.