• Question: Why did you become a scientist, was it because of something that happened to you, or just because you enjoy it? =)

    Asked by niamh2 to Meeks, Pete, Stephen, Steve, Tom on 15 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by icanhazsammich, caroline12.
    • Photo: Pete Edwards

      Pete Edwards answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      My dad says that ever since I could talk I was always asking him questions about things around me – Why is grass green? How big is the Earth, What’s the Sun made of? Things like that. I realised at school that science was about trying to answer a lot of the questions that most interested me so I studied as much science as I could. I took biology, chemistry and physics as single sciences to GCSE. When I started my A levels I wasn’t sure if I was going to study marine biology or physics at uni and I only decided I was going to do physics at the end of my AS year.
      I guess my main influence was my A level physics teacher. He was new at my school and was very enthusiastic and had a great way of bringing physics alive. Thanks Dr Roscoe if you’re out there!

    • Photo: Marieke Navin

      Marieke Navin answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      It was purely just because I enjoy it! I loved science at school and picked all the sciences for my A levels. But when I started my A levels I found that I loved physics the best and I knew I wanted to do physics at university. This meant that I dropped biology in favour of maths, because you really need maths to do physics.
      I loved my degree in physics and astronomy. It was really hard and challenging.
      Another thing that happened to me was that I won a competition when I was 15 to go to space camp! it was brilliant. I really wanted to be an astronaut and I thought somehow studying astronomy would help me reach that goal.
      I also went to summer astronomy camps around Europe where you stay with young people from all over Europe doing astronomy projects. Mainly you stay up all night observing the sky and chatting. It was such fun. Science was such a part of my life it seemed so natural to stay in the field of science.

    • Photo: Steve Roser

      Steve Roser answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      I became a scientist because I enjoyed doing it. In a sense thats not very interesting, whats more interesting is if I think how I got to the place I am today. I seem to have had an awful amount of luck – in the people I met, in the places I found myself, in teh magazines I opened and found perfect jobs etc etc. What it has convinced me is that altho you need luck, but even more you can help make your own luck, by choosing the right A levels, by hanging around with the ‘right’ sort of people (and I don’t just mean very good, well-behaved sorts) and by keeping an open mind. In the end though there was some luck, I just helped it

    • Photo: Stephen Curry

      Stephen Curry answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Hello Niamh – There is no specific event that I can remember. I was always interested in the world around me and in technical stuff (especially space rockets in the beginning).

      I always enjoyed science at school and was fascinated studying physics at uni. With one minor detour, I’ve stuck with it ever since and (most days!) am very happy with my choice. It is a privileged life in many ways – I can’t believe that they pay me to be curious about the world!

    • Photo: Tom Hartley

      Tom Hartley answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      I think it was just because I enjoy it. Lots of different things helped to get me interested in science (TV programmes, teachers, etc.), but I’ve always been interested in how things work, and I think that the urge to find out has been there as long as I can remember.

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