The Stuff We “Never Use” — And Why It Might Be the Most Important Thing We LearnedBy Mike McKenzieWe’ve all said it. I’ve said it myself many times, usually while staring at a worksheet and wondering how knowing the atomic weight of boron was going to help me pay rent. I escaped high school science with a proud, hard-earned D-minus. Science isn’t about facts—it’s about curiosity and cause-and-effect. So no, I don’t use the atomic weight of boron.