WATCH: Why science needs its stumbles and fumbles

Science. It’s inscrutable. It’s significant. And deadly serious. Only the finest, most rigorous minds can do the work that goes into advancing our world inexorably into a more knowledgeable, more perfect future; only perfect work is enough to do so.

Well, maybe not. It turns out that everyone from Charles Darwin to Albert Einstein makes mistakes—and there’s a brilliance to blunders that’s actually key to the scientific process.

In this season’s final Perimeter Public Lecture—a decade-long series of discussions in Kitchener-Waterloo, delivered by world-leading physics theorists and experimenters who discuss cutting-edge science without talking down—bestselling author and astrophysicist Mario Livio will explain how even history’s greatest scientists can make mistakes, and why they needed to. Maclean’s is proud to be live-streaming Livio’s lecture, on June 1 at 7 PM ET, below; it will be recorded and viewable afterward. You can also ask Livio questions before and during the lecture via Facebook and Twitter, using the hashtag #piLIVE, too!