From Isidore Margaronis, London, UK
As an engineering student decades ago, I was taught that a simple empirical formula that gave a “good enough” result was more useful than a perfect, correct analysis with too many variables (15 February, p 19).
A case in point is the “best boiled egg” method you reported. It was fascinating and illuminating and involved nuclear magnetic resonance and spectroscopy, complex energy flow calculations and more. However, it requires more than half an hour of cooking. Other methods for the “perfect” egg require far less time.
