I should have loved biology: the lifeless recitation of names

James Somers argues that biology was taught as a lifeless recitation of names, robbing students of the astonishing questions at its core. He recounts how Avery's experiment on Streptococcus bacteria revealed nucleic acid as the transforming principle, and how understanding biology as physical shapes bumping into each other makes it come alive. He suggests learning biology through thin, deep slices and questions, like programming.