• Question: did you want to be a scientist all your life . was science a natural ability for you or did you worrk at it. Tasmin: have you seen any penguins and what are you stuying at the moment.

    Asked by ehsy91 to Chris, Emily, Martin, Natalie, Tamsin on 25 Mar 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Martin Coath

      Martin Coath answered on 25 Mar 2010:

      I wanted to be a teacher first. But I knew I liked science from about the age of 9 or 10.

      There is natural inclination towards curiosity in all people which is all you need to be a scientist. But it may be stronger and last longer in some people. I wouldn’t call it “natural ability” – I would call it “an itch that needs scratching” 😀

    • Photo: Tamsin Gray

      Tamsin Gray answered on 25 Mar 2010:

      No, I didn’t want to be a scientist all my life. I quite liked science at school but I liked other subjects too like art, music and English. Similarly I was quite good at science but I did have to work at it, especially in physics, to get the grades I needed to go on and study it at university.

      Yes, I’ve seen loads of penguins! I used to live near to a colony of 6000 Emperor penguins. I visited them when they had young chicks, it was just like on the film ‘March of the Penguins’. They are incredibly cute. I’m about to visit an island with loads of Macaroni penguins, they’re tiny little ones with crazy yellow hairstyles, see http://frozen-cheese.blogspot.com/2006/12/bird-island-just-two-days-bumpy-sailing.html

    • Photo: Chris Cooper

      Chris Cooper answered on 25 Mar 2010:

      Hi – good question – there are other answers that relate to this for all of us. Take a look around the site.

      But as for me I got inspired chopping up fish I was supposed to cook for my mum, watching TV science programs (How! was my favourite – long since gone) and reading science fiction (e.g. Isaac Asimov – himself once a biochemist like me!).

      I didn’t finally decide to commit myself to a science career till I was 21, but I did enough science subjects at school and uni. that I kept the possibility open.

      I think I have a naturally logical mind. So I worked hard at science, but found the work pretty easy (if that makes sense). However, this was not true of the practicals – I am pretty clumsy. So I really had to work at those. I am lucky now that much more technically gifted people help me in the lab.

      One thing I can’t do is visualise things in three-dimensions. So I am hopeless at geometry and three-dimensional protein structures. This is a problem in my work. Also at home actually as I am hopeless at DIY. I do make a mean curry though to compensate!

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