As a chem major, I get way too excited about talking to
random people about chemistry. Today for example, I had a field day explaining
to my barista why her chemistry teacher sometimes says hydrogen has a +1 charge
and sometimes says all the elements on the periodic table are neutral. When I talk to non-chemists about chemistry,
it makes me feel all tingly inside. Does this mean that I am meant to be a
pre-school teacher? Is it because I have a power complex and enjoy feeling like
I know more than everyone else? Do all pre-school teachers have power
complexes?
I prefer to think that my excitement is born from my strong
belief in the power of critical thinking, reasoning, and of course, the
scientific method. Communicating the importance of these tools to
non-believers, skeptics or those that just can’t be bothered seems to me to be
a noble endeavor. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good skeptic. In fact,
skepticism is one of the qualities I think all good scientists possess.
In my short 2 decades
on this earth, I have come to the conclusion that there is a lack of clear,
open, and non-elitist communication between us sciency-types and those that are
spending their time thinking about other important things—like whether Shakespeare’s
stuff was stolen, how we can improve the economy, or who the hell let the dogs
out.
Before I scrap my plans to attend grad-school for
neuroscience research to pursue a science writing career, I thought I’d try my
hand at this open, non-elitist communication thing. I hope with this blog I can
summarize and cite some sciency tidbits that I find interesting in a way that
will make all of you interested in them too. The point is, I don’t think
science is just for scientists, and whether you slept through your high school
chemistry class or read your physics textbook from cover to cover, I think
you’ll enjoy this blog.
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