i am honored and pleased to receive the early career life scientist award from the american society of cell biology . it is noteworthy that i was not trained in biology but in physics and chemistry . i have always gazed at cell biology as another planet made of beautiful and crazy things to which i would never have access . it is also about instruments , knowing how engines work and having to get your hands dirty . at the ecole suprieure de physique et chimie de la ville de paris , we spent our time in the labs , using all the machines , from the mass spectrometers and the acousto - optic modulators to the rotating evaporator and the milling machine . after synthesizing left and right enantiomers of molecules i can no longer remember , we looked at fluid particles forming circles in standing waves and then generated tortuous diffraction patterns with homemade lasers . i remember seeing some sort of mbius strip  like shape on an oscilloscope that was monitoring a chaos - generating electric circuit . by having all these tools available manuel thry : the enthusiastic teachers , fascinating mentors , inspiring colleagues , and inquisitive students of whom i am made . i get so much more satisfaction from building rather than buying something . labeling a protein with a kit is efficient , but it is not as rewarding as doing it with the help of your friendly chemist , a homemade column in a 25-ml pipette , and the uv lamp from the disco dance floor to detect the labeled product . any small progress is perceived as a real personal advance ; you begin to know much better what you are manipulating in your experiments . in the same manner , the bench devices assembled step - by - step morph into large experimental setups . what has impressed me the most are the instruments that have been combined to enable cell manipulation , including micromanipulators , piezo stacks , and photodiodes driven by labview . i truly believed then , at the curie institute , that these setups would open the doors to innovation , not only from a technical standpoint but also from a scientific standpoint , by providing new ways to think about cells . for my friends and me at that time , there was nothing we could n't build to allow us to play with cells . pulling , pushing , stretching , squeezing , pressing , blowing , and sucking : we tested everything , we even played the intercellular bridge like the string of a harp ! pictures taken during the nuit blanche , a public all - night art exhibition held 56 october 2013 . movies were assembled and music was added by the groupe laps , and the movies were projected back onto the facade of the actual building ( www.groupe-laps.org/en ) . what happens with this tendency is that you acquire tons of images you will never look at and develop automated image - analysis programs that work in a way you do n't really understand and that reveal information you could not obtain manually . the positive benefits of this tendency have provided some very interesting insights , and i have been lucky enough to be associated with some of them . however , the papers in the cell cytoskeleton field that have impressed me the most were performed with rudimentary tools and most often depended on careful observation . although i agree that new techniques will take us into new research areas , i still think there are lots of things to do with simple tools , as long as they are cleverly used . one of my favorite examples is the way ray rappaport highlighted the rules of mitotic cleavage furrow positioning by piercing a sand dollar egg with a needle . it is also an example that serves a useful answer to some of our article reviewers , in that the experimental setup can be viewed as highly artificial . yes , the system is not physiological , but rappaport 's needle told us a lot about the way the mitotic apparatus actually works in cells . it would take a book to review the seminal experiments in which a simple , well - thought - out tool has been used to reveal the core mechanism of cell cytoskeleton assembly . but is our knowledge so far advanced that there is no more need for this type of research ? do we necessarily have to develop more complex techniques to try to dig deeper into the complexity of biological mechanisms ? i am not so sure . on the other hand , modern tools for cell imaging and manipulation so , in parallel to the investigation of complexity with big data , there may be merit in revisiting basic old rules with new tools . how complete is the current set of basic cell cytoskeleton rules that have been identified ? how do cells sense space or measure distances ? how do cells set their size or define their shape ? do cells have a center ? i often tell students that , in starting to tackle questions like these and to identify any laws , we need equations ; and for the equations , we need numbers . my view on the way to progress in science and think about experimental design was dramatically changed when i read the introduction  l'tude de la mdecine exprimentale by claude bernard ( bernard , 1865 , 1957 ) . according to him , all working hypotheses are acceptable as long as they are based on facts established by accurate observation . it may seem obvious , but it opens up a field of possibilities for your imagination . nothing is too crazy or too foolish to be considered , as long as it is based on rigorous experimental observations . when formulating these hypotheses , it is safe to operate with the spirit that , in the imaginary world , things could be completely different . however , once the experimental results are obtained , you should curb your imaginative and creative impulses and come back to the real world . forget about your working hypothesis . it is not simply about pushing the boundaries between the real and imaginary , it is about rewiring the real . the adage  work hard , play hard  applies not only to the necessity of a worthy celebration upon the acceptance of a paper . i try to encourage my students to have some good times seeking new ways to put biology problems in another context to offer a fresh look . our approaches may be funny , but they may also reveal interesting insights . dress yourself up as a golgi , and after receiving a big laugh , you will encounter topological problems and will have consider how these problems are solved in cells . try to walk as a cell ( in a swimming pool of nutella ) , and the appreciation of the problem of inertia and force balance in a fluid environment with a low reynolds number will become clearer . i am convinced that serious games are a great way to think about scientific problems . it had an impact with the public too , and it was blogged about across the world . people threw up a series of good questions : what controls the speed of a cell ? last year we staged a public event to illustrate this question : what is the difference between the architecture of a cell and a building ? we achieved this by effectively miniaturizing the front faade of the saint louis hospital , plating cells on it , and video - recording actin dynamics . videos were then projected back onto the actual building , showing cells attaching stress fibers to windows and gutters . in the crowd , people were discussing the differences between cells and buildings : one was size , of course ; but gravity and dynamics of construction were others . a very young child was puzzled by cell divisions and asked , if they divide , do they become twice as small ? if it happens again and again , will there be enough space ? some stayed until 5 a.m. , gazing at the giant cells climbing over the hospital . by capturing the imagination of both scientists and the general public , both events showed that we could and we should engage the public more in practical experimental science and hence in the exploration of cell biology .
the science we practice is shaped by our interactions with people ; the enthusiastic teachers , the fascinating mentors , the inspiring colleagues , and the inquisitive students . 
 the science we enjoy takes us into areas we could n't have anticipated . from time to time , we come back to reality and try to find ways to share our new explorations with our friends and relatives and to convert our insights into collective progress . what could be a better job ?