" One can never tell in advance what the practical use or scientific implications of anything new might be. Who would have thought that germanium—an obscure “semimetal” discovered in the 1880s—would turn out to be crucial to the development of transistors? Or that elements like neodymium and samarium, regarded for a century as mere curiosities, would be essential to the making of unprecedentedly powerful permanent magnets? Such questions are, in a sense, beside the point. We search for the island of stability because, like Mount Everest, it is there. But, as with Everest, there is profound emotion, too, infusing the scientific search to test a hypothesis. The quest for the magic island shows us that science is far from being coldness and calculation, as many people imagine, but is shot through with passion, longing, and romance. "

― Oliver Sacks , Everything in Its Place: First Loves and Last Tales