• Question: What got you into science?

    Asked by kirino1 to Rob, Adam, Geoff, Sheila, Suzie on 14 Mar 2011 in Categories: . This question was also asked by freddie, sarah15, bernicee, rennit, booanbuffy23, bananarama, hellok234, sulieman, gracecallery, bethanyrosecarter, missdestiny96, ljm13, izzy122, piaa, layla, emilypoynton96, mayasalwaypowell.
    • Photo: Robert Simpson

      Robert Simpson answered on 11 Mar 2011:

      My Dad is an engineer. I used to ask him how things worked (like kettles and cameras, etc). He would sit me down with a pencil and a piece of paper and show me how stuff worked – having someone just explain it was quite inspiring and I guess I was brought up knowing that ‘how?’ and ‘why?’ were questions that often lead to interesting answers. These questions pretty much make you a scientist if you ask them enough 🙂

    • Photo: Suzie Sheehy

      Suzie Sheehy answered on 13 Mar 2011:

      Many people have that “moment” or that “teacher” or a particular memory of what got them into science, but I don’t. Mine was a gradual building of interest, I think.
      I had some great teachers, I remember one teacher when I was 7 years old who used to have science competitions each week – I still remember winning the ‘make your own thermos flask’ one!
      I was also lucky to have a school who had lots of enrichment activities, visits to the science museum and after-school activities. The main one I was involved in was designing and racing solar powered model cars. I did that for 6 years at school and won the competition twice, so that was pretty motivating! (I went to school in Australia, so the solar power thing makes more sense…)
      The first time I got interested in science for *myself* though, was when I borrowed a book on astronomy from the local library in my last year of school – I was totally enthralled by it, by the Universe and all the things in it that made us on Earth seem (almost) insignificant. That’s what made me stick with physics at University, the feeling that there was just so much more to the world that I knew about. (I was also doing Civil Engineering, but later dropped that and just finished the Science degree, as I realised that’s what really interested me).
      To be honest, I can’t imagine not doing something related to science. Doing science is when I really feel that I get to use my brain (and what else is it there for!?).

    • Photo: Sheila Kanani

      Sheila Kanani answered on 13 Mar 2011:

      Honestly, the reason I started liking physics was because my physics teacher told me I was good at it, so I wanted to do it more because I liked doing things I was good at!
      I’d always like science though, for as long as I can remember. I like inventing new things when I was little and always thought robots and things like that were pretty cool.
      The thing that really cemented science into my brain was when my amazing physics teacher explained to us that physics can explain everything….from sucking on a straw, to playing hockey, to why TVs work. That really amazed me!
      And once I became interested in space too, I was committed to physics for the rest of my life 🙂

    • Photo: Adam Tuff

      Adam Tuff answered on 14 Mar 2011:

      I think I’ve always been interested in science – I like the idea of futuristic technology and the excitement of being able to use some of it. It’s very exciting when you think that twenty years ago the internet didn’t exist, and how different people’s lives were….imagine what might be created or discovered in the next twenty! I’m still waiting for my hoverboard and self-tying shoelaces though…

    • Photo: Geoff McBride

      Geoff McBride answered on 14 Mar 2011:

      I’ve always been a fan of science I studied Physics at Southampton in my 30s 1994 then started work here in 98.

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