Question: why do you enjoy science?
Asked by nov0003 to Mags, Mat, Kieran, Aimee, Bridget on 20 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by hayden, tab16, ashleighmorgan, bobby2, pineapple, caroline267, ivankravchenko, par0038, phylo, bro0040, jtakes, gurl, collingwood131036.
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This is almost the same as the question as why did I become a scientist. Because I love and enjoy science. Which bits in particular?Solving puzzles, seeing how things fit together, and figuring out the answer to things.
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Yes, I agree with Kieran. For me it’s because I want to understand how things work, and I want to be able to predict things. I don’t like things I don’t understand – they make me nervous. My car makes me nervous because if it breaks down I don’t know how to fix it. I have to take it to a garage and rely on someone else’s opinion. In science we work towards understanding stuff. That means we can predict things. We can predict that some things will be bad for you, other things not.
Now that means we can use knowledge to make the world a better place. That’s very important. That’s why I look at making new medicines, why some of the people I work with are making new solar panels, or ways of taking greenhouse gases out of the air. Those things are a big part of the job. But fundamentally you know that to start being helpful you have to understand stuff. And it turns out that getting that understanding is very satisfying.
What’s kind of interesting is that some problems are pretty tough, so there’s plenty to do. Here’s one thing: we still can’t predict a drug that will cure a disease. Even when we know a lot about the disease. Even when we know exactly why a disease happens, we still can’t design, on a piece of paper, a molecule that will cure that disease. Amazing. When you read some more about what a cell is, and how molecules bump into each other, you’ll start to understand why. But these problems will probably still be there when you’re a bit older – so hurry up and get through school and come and help us out, because we need you.
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I became a scientist because of my love for chemistry. I enjoy making new substances and solving puzzles. The puzzles I have helped solve in the past were very much like jigsaw puzzles because I was looking for a molecule that had the right shape for a chemical reaction. Come to think of it, this describes a lot of chemistry.
And sometimes because of my chemistry degree, I’m the only person around that can safely perform science demos that create a rainbow of colours or ones that go bang.
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I enjoy watching the world around me, particularly the natural world. I’m always amazed at how animals and plants are so well adapted to catch prey, avoid being eaten, and deal with harsh environments. I can sit for hours and watch spiders spin their webs, lizards catch and eat insects, and birds swoop each other.
I like science because it satisfies my natural curiosity.
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I like it because the more science you learn, the more you understand the world. I particularly like knowing how the human body works and what has gone wrong in people with diseases. I think it’s really interesting that the DNA of all humans is more than 99% the same; all the differences between us are in that tiny 1%. It’s also interesting to learn about evolution and the similarities between humans and animals, and to understand why we behave the way we do.
I just really enjoy learning about these things and the fact that we are always discovering new things or improving old ideas.
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