Aidan Dwyer, the 13-year-old, celebrated as a genius for discovering something people loved to think was true.

But then it turned out he measured the wrong thing, and the genius bubble burst.

It all started when "Aidan, then 11, stared at the tree branches denuded of leaves and noticed they looked alike...."

Perhaps, Aidan postulated, trees arranged their branches to improve the collection of sunlight. If he used the Fibonacci sequence to imitate that design with solar panels replacing leaves, maybe the structure could fit his family's limited space, look pretty — and power the house....

Wouldn't it be satisfying — in some deep poetic way — if arranging solar panels like leaves instead of all flat produced more power? Maybe. But if you want to measure power, you don't measure voltage.

Dr. Kleissl praised Aidan's work, but added that even if Aidan had measured the right variables, "I'm certain that he will not find that his arrangement is better," he said. "I think it's a romantic ideal that nature has many lessons for us, and there are a few cases where this is true, but in the majority of cases we could teach nature, in a way, how to be better, faster."

Oh! Dr. Kleissl! You're breaking our hearts!