4As a child, I often watched episodes of the American science-fiction television show Star Trek, in which the characters made frequent use of a diagnostic tool called a tricorder. Week after week the protagonists of this show would avoid trouble and solve problems using this nifty device. The sonic screwdriver was a similar tool in the British science-fiction television show Doctor Who. Little did I realize while growing up that my career would make just as frequent use of another diagnostic tool: the electrical multimeter.