• Question: What inspired you to be come a scientist?

    Asked by fizzy124 to Tom, Sarah, Dalya, Derek, Tim on 16 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by sophiecraig, hopesilveira, secretdork, a1berteinstein, emilyrann123456789, jessicahayes, oddone, trafiz, gingerlove, samfe2310, carensa21, evilevo, adw4, adw2.
    • Photo: Tom Crick

      Tom Crick answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      I think I was very lucky to have some inspiring teachers at school, especially for maths and physics. I think I knew I wanted to do research and become an academic when I did a summer research internship during my degree…very happy now!

    • Photo: Derek McKay-Bukowski

      Derek McKay-Bukowski answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      One of my earliest memories ever was of a sticker book of ‘stars and planets’. It had other topics in it as well, from the Northern Lights to galaxies. It definitely got me started. Then, when I was about 6, I saw a picture of a radio telescope control room. It was filled with equipment, screens, buttons, dials and lots and lots of wires. Instantly that became _the_ place where I wanted to work when I grew up. Since then, I’ve worked at lots of telescopes (not just radio ones), but I did spend about two months working in that _exact_ same control room that I had seen in the newspaper 20 years earlier.

      That book and that photograph were the starting points. Since then, I’ve been inspired along the way by teachers and lecturers, books and documentaries, visiting places and doing science summer jobs. But it was definitely something that went back to when I was very young.

    • Photo: Tim Millar

      Tim Millar answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      My deputy head teacher at school. I thought I wanted to be a lab tech but she said I should aim higher, so I did and I’m now a scientist who has lab techs working for him. Thanks aunty Viv where ever you are!

    • Photo: Dalya Soond

      Dalya Soond answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      2 things:
      A book called ‘The Swiftly Tilting Planet’ by Madelaine L’Engle I read when I was 8. (It was 3rd in the series of ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ if anyone has heard of that book.) In it, one of the main characters was shrunk small enough so that she could enter her brother’s mitochondria (energy factory) where a war was being waged that could determine the fate of the planet (don’t ask….it makes sense in the book). I actually thought that mitochondria was something the author made up but it started me thinking about what goes on inside the body and organelles. The way the author described things very anthropomorphically, I felt that science was very similar to society, just with molecules rather than people.

      The second thing was learning about ribosomes and translation of mRNA to protein when I was 14. I thought, wow this is just like a machine in human life. And then I was hooked.

    • Photo: Sarah Thomas

      Sarah Thomas answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Lots of things!

      Firstly, Chemistry and Biology were my favourite subjects in school. I had nice enthusiastic teachers and I really liked doing the experiments. My lab partner and I once SET FIRE to our desk during a distillation experiment by getting the distillate everywhere and mucking around with bunsen burners… turned out the distillate was flammable – oops! Playing with chemicals and fire, and things changing colour and fizzing and going BANG! I thought chemistry was really exciting!

      😀

      During my Advanced Highers (equivalent of A levels in England) we had to do a series of practicals for the course but my school didn’t have the necessary equipment. So the teacher arranged for us to go to Edinburgh University for 2 days to do the experiments and stay in student accommodation. After 2 days for running around a university laboratory in a white coat, and staying up all night with my friends in the student halls, I knew that I had to come to Edinburgh University and study chemistry!

      I think it’s really important to just go with your heart when you are trying to decide what to do with your future, do the things that you enjoy, cos you’ll find it so much easier to study if you are passionate about the subject and you’ll stick with it throughout all the years at uni. Find your own inspiration and motivation and go for it!

      🙂

      It was 7 years ago that I made that decision and I couldn’t be happier. Cancer research is my dream career and I think I’m very lucky to have got to where I am today.

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