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Issue 4: No field of study can advance significantly unless outsiders bring their knowledge and experience to that field of study.

In the year 1953, the discovery of the double helix structure of deoxyribonucleic acid by J.D.Waston and F.Crick through an analysis of a X-ray diffraction image shocked the globe. The knowledge of ourselves suddenly evolved from a cellular level or a tissue level or even an organ level to a more sophisticated molecular level. Consequently, the subject molecular biology emerged and thereafter, hundreds of thousands studies on the molecular basis of homo sapiens had been conducted, which lead to the booming of our understandings of who we are and how we function. Such discovery is an outstanding example of the interdisciplinary interactions that bring about a significant progression as Waston's biological idea met Crick's physical talent. But a significant progression not always result from the interactions between different disciplines, it can also be achieved from the accumulation of the studies of a current subject through a series of formerly established methods in that field.

As modern social division of labor had been well developed long before, and accidental discoveries seldom favor the numerous normal researchers, the routine way of doing a research is to study through formerly well-established methods in that field. When a mathematician try to study a formula, he might first utilize the coordinate that is created by Euclid thousand years ago as a tool. A biologist has to extract DNA samples from tissues though procedures founded by those predecessors in biochemistry. Conducting a study by a formerly well-established methods of that field does not mean it's result is less significant than the study which had brought in external knowledge. Look at Human Genome Project, almost all the methods that had been involved(including DNA sequencing technology) were mature and well-established in biochemistry, no external knowledge had been brought in------that is, the results of the project are derived from the accumulation of the studies conducted through a formerly established methods in biochemistry. However, no one can ignore it's great significance since it tells us the entire secrets of human beings.

More often, it is the interaction between different disciplines, either through borrowing knowledge from one another or through the combination of each other, that result in a significant discovery.

If physicist did not support archaeologist with the knowledge of how to identify the age of the excavated relics by detecting the C12, the possible origin of human might not be explicit even till now. If archaeologist did not provide historian analysis of the ancient relics, historians would lack the evidence to prove his view, then, they are more likely to tell stories. And the myth of DNA cannot be unfolded if Waston did not meet Crick who had given him plenty of X-ray knowledge of physics. All too often, a field of study desires the external knowledge, not only for the sake of making a significant discovery or advance, but also for it's normal proceeding.

The combination of two different disciplines is another excellent way to make a difference. Take a glance at a bookshelf of science in a bookstore, you might find books that titled biochemistry, biophysics, bioinformatics, molecular genetics, etc. Despite their half-blood names, such hybridized subjects filled up the spaces between two disciplines that were considered no distinctive relevant but each was confined to their own boundaries before. For instance, hundred years ago, biology was biology, it concerned on the anatomical structure and physiological function of living organisms while chemistry was chemistry and it involved the study of interactions between matters. And now, when they mixed, a more appealing field appeared: biochemistry--the study of the structure and interaction of molecules in living organisms—which then contributed to the development of the nutritional industry, the cosmetic industry, and the pharmaceutical industry. As most of the multidisciplines are considered more pragmatic than each of their components, they are of great significance.

On balance, the significance of a field of study lies in its result that benefits our daily life or at least the subsequent research, whether outsiders have brought in external knowledge or not accounts for little of its significance, nonetheless, it seems that most of the time, the studies which had utilized external knowledge are more likely to make a significant impact on the modern society.

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