Why do flags flutter? Why do some leaves have serrated edges? Why is a pattern left behind when muddy water evaporates? Those are just a few of the burning questions Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan has dedicated his life to answering. A professor of applied mathematics at Harvard University, he seeks to explain the mundane details of the world that most of us take for granted. "It's work no self-respecting experimentalist would do," he says.

Mahadevan starts by creating a mathematical model of something — how a Venus flytrap snaps shut so quickly, for instance — then examines the thing in his laboratory to see if his equations are accurate. Usually they aren't, forcing him to look deeper. "Most questions that are easy to ask are very difficult to answer," he says.

These quirky experiments may have practical applications: His study of how honey drips, for example, could help geologists studying magma. But that's the last thing on his mind. "I'm happy just to have my curiosity satisfied, if only temporarily."

In September, Mahadevan's research garnered a $500,000 MacArthur "genius" grant. How will the money change him? "Now," he says with a chuckle, "I can fail in even more spectacular ways."