“Fleming’s lab partner, V. D. Allison, for example, was somewhat shocked when Fleming pulled “my leg about my excessive tidiness. Each evening I put my ‘bench’ in order and threw away anything I had no further use for. Fleming told me I was a great deal too careful. He, for his part, kept his cultures sometimes for two or three weeks and before getting rid of them, looked very carefully to see whether by chance any unexpected or interesting phenomena had appeared. The sequel was to prove how right he was.”