{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,12]],"date-time":"2026-10-12T13:46:05Z","timestamp":1791812765785,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,12]],"date-time":"2026-10-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791763200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,12]],"date-time":"2026-10-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791763200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Microbiol Biol Educ."],"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>At a time in which humanity\u2019s entire knowledge base is\u2014quite literally\u2014at everyone\u2019s fingertips, educators must encourage creative problem-solving and critical thinking over memorization of facts more than ever. Fermi problems are a type of question in which students use logical reasoning and rough assumptions to arrive at an answer that is roughly correct\u2014usually within a factor of ten. The emphasis of Fermi-type questions is on breaking down a complex question for which the \u201ccorrect\u201d answer likely cannot be determined into simpler parts, making reasonable guesses, and justifying one\u2019s assumptions rather than finding an exact value. In this article, I describe how to integrate Fermi problems into biology curricula at high school, college, and graduate levels and how to teach students to approach challenging, fascinating, and absurd questions.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/jmbe.00141-26","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,12]],"date-time":"2026-10-12T13:00:33Z","timestamp":1791810033000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Better roughly right than precisely wrong: Fermi problems in biology curricula"],"prefix":"10.1128","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5489-3444","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Roland","family":"Hatzenpichler","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02w0trx84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Extreme Biology Institute, Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University","place":["Bozeman, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"235","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_2","volume-title":"Adventures of a curious characterSurely you\u2019re joking, Mr. Feynman!","author":"Feynman R","year":"1997","unstructured":"Feynman R. 1997. Adventures of a curious character. Surely you\u2019re joking, Mr. Feynman! W. W. Norton & Company."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1119\/1.1969701"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0907732106"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_2","volume-title":"What if?: serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions","author":"Munroe R","year":"2014","unstructured":"Munroe R. 2014. What if?: serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions. Dey Street Books."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/075450a0"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_7_2","volume-title":"The wisdom of crowds","author":"Surowiecki J","year":"2004","unstructured":"Surowiecki J. 2004. The wisdom of crowds. Doubleday; Anchor, United States."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pbio.1002020"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2204892120"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2024815118"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2023.09.040"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_12_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nrmicro3378"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4319\/lo.1995.40.7.1236"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_14_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41396-020-00752-6"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4319\/lo.2003.48.5.1721"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_16_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s43016-024-00952-9"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_17_2","volume-title":"Cell biology by the numbers","author":"Milo R","year":"2016","unstructured":"Milo R, Phillips R. 2016. Cell biology by the numbers. Garland Science, Taylor and Francis Group."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_18_2","volume-title":"What if? 2: additional serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions","author":"Munroe R","year":"2022","unstructured":"Munroe R. 2022. What if? 2: additional serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions. Riverhead Books."}],"container-title":["Journal of Microbiology &amp; Biology Education"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1128\/jmbe.00141-26","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1128\/jmbe.00141-26","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,12]],"date-time":"2026-10-12T13:00:34Z","timestamp":1791810034000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/doi\/10.1128\/jmbe.00141-26"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Karishma","family":"Kaushik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,12]]},"references-count":17,"alternative-id":["10.1128\/jmbe.00141-26"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/jmbe.00141-26","relation":{},"ISSN":["1935-7877","1935-7885"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1935-7877","type":"print"},{"value":"1935-7885","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,12]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2026-06-09","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-09-23","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-10-12","order":3,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}],"article-number":"e00141-26"}}