“Happy is he who gets to know the reasons for things”. I wish this 2000 year-old statement from Virgil was enough to deal with the question that must plague teachers all over the world — “what’s the point of this?” But, as someone who’s just returned to the teaching profession after a seven-year break, I can assure you it’s not.
I teach at an inner city comprehensive school where science, as in all UK schools, is compulsory for all students up to the age of 16. As well as trying to get my students to understand electrical circuits or Newton’s Laws, I make an effort to convey to them that science is important, that it’s something worth doing for reasons beyond the need to pass exams.
Anyone who knows me will confirm that I wear my passion for science on my sleeve, but I don’t think that’s enough to convince all my students that science is important. Nor do I think, like some in my profession, that the importance of science is implicit in the courses we teach, that it will somehow seep into my students’ consciousness through the sheer number of hours they spend doing “science” at school.
So, I’ve started this film and blog project in which I want to ask the question “why is science important?” to people who feel the importance of science so deeply that they have dedicated their lives to it — working scientists, science writers and, of course, science teachers. I’m making a documentary, funded by The Wellcome Trust, and running this “collective blog” as I work on the film. Bits from the blog will appear in the film and bits of the film will appear on the blog. The idea is that the two will inform and enrich each other.
I’m hoping that this project will help me arrive at an answer to this question; an answer that speaks to readers of this blog, as well as my students, and convinces them that science is important. Furthermore, I want this project to reach people who don’t think science is important and convince them otherwise. I want it to demonstrate that science is absolutely crucial to the future wellbeing of our world, that its contribution to culture is as significant as that of music, art or literature and, most important of all, that a sound appreciation of science is vital to realising your potential as a human being. I want this project to make it far, far easier for any science teacher to be able to answer that inevitable question, ‘what’s the point of all this?”
So please take a look and, if you’ve got something to add, please get in touch.
10 Comments
An excellent initiative indeed!The cleavage in between science and humanity is painfully still there though decades have passed when C.P.Snow pointed towards a phenomenon like that.But still I would prefer to go by the side of science because this is only creative human pursuit which is largely unbiased and adopts a clear cut methodology to reach to the truth.But a lot has to be done to attract people towards a way of living with science.An initiative like this is really a praiseworthy step taken in this direction.
We have planned a whole year of programme in celebration of Charles Darwin's bicentenary to take up this issue humbly to the Indian people why science should be important to them ! I think Charles is most befitting personality to communicate this point of view not only to Indian people but to people anywhere of/on this planet.Science is really important for many of those people who earnestly desire to free the humanity from shackles of ignorance , dogmatism and many kinds of superstitions !
Wish you a grand success in your endeavor which in fact is not solely yours but a common cause shared by like minded people across the planet earth.But yes you are the torch bearer !
Science is an entirely different way of going through life, attentive to details, wondering about explanations, but also actively participating in building up theories and tearing them down.
I wonder why things happen or why the world is the way it is- and I think about it and design experiments and get to test them. It's similar to documentarians, who wonder why people act as they do- and then film them to try to explain it. Or novelists, or anyone else that engages in a creative act to try to understand the strange reality we occupy. Science is important because it makes life interesting and somehow makes us all pay better attention to everything around us.
MD/PhD student, spending my time wondering about itch!
Science is important for an enormous number of reasons. Some are quite practical, and others relate more to the human need to engage in philosophical musings. First the practical. Science is important because much of the knowledge uncovered by science leads to economic growth and activity. Our modern electronic world would not be possible were it not for our understanding of the quantum world. This industry alone generates billions of dollars of economic activity. Then there is the need to be an informed citizen in an increasingly complicated political society. Stem cell research, global warming, biodiversity and the preservation of species, genetic engineering. These are but a sampling of the issues we expect our elected leaders to discuss, debate and make policy about. If we want leaders who will make wise decisions we had damn well better be at least moderately informed on the science behind these matters. If not, we run the serious risk of electing to office charlatans, demogogues and the scientifically illiterate, even though they may sound literate.
At the more philosophical end of the spectrum, science is an incredibly creative process. Being informed of science allows us to share, at least to some extent, in this creative process. Science knowledge exposes us to the awesome wonder of nature. It opens us the possibilities of imagination and exploration. It enriches our lives at a deeply personal level. Who is not deeply moved at the site of that uplifting Hubble Space Telescope image of the Eagle Nebula, the portion dubbed the Pillars of Creation? A person not moved by such images and not provoked to wonder and question must be intellectually numb, if not dead.
Science enriches our emotional lives. My explorations into science have, I am convinced, shaped me into a humbler, more exuberant participant in life. Everytime I contemplate the mysteries that science has unraveled I am awed and inspired. Probing into nature, I find myself left breathless at times by the grandeur of the unfolding story science reveals.
science is whack!!!!!
If you were to ask why science is not important, most would be at a loss to provide an effective reply. There are too many reasons and rationales for why science is important. After some thought, it becomes obvious that science is important in order to improve the communication systems that facilitate its transmission and development.
all artical's are containing with full knowledge and with deep search
thank's for publishing these article
I like science because it leads us to think hard and critically about the nature that we see around us and gives us paths to unravel many amazing mysteries that are hidden there and make use of our findings to enrich our lives and that of all animals and plants on this earth!
Hello
I am a freelance science editor, residing in Australia. I will shortly be giving a presentation about science editing to some students undertaking a postgraduate course at RMIT University in Melbourne.
I think it is very important for science editors to understand the context of scientists, and would like to screen the youtube footage section 8 of 14 from the why science movie. I will not have internet access on the night and would very much appreciate an individual video file for this purpose.
Of course, I will acknowledge the source.
Kind regards
Sally
वैसे लोग जो अभी प्राणियों में आराम के लिए जाँच नहीं, लेकिन इतना है कि वे आराम से रह सकते हैं जानना चाहते परिपक्व है. विज्ञान की शुद्ध भावना में है .. यह जीवन का एक प्रणाली कैसे चीजें काम है, और क्या विज्ञान हमेशा, विश्वसनीय और infallibly निश्चित किया जाना चाहिए है.
और कुछ विश्वास करने के लिए नेतृत्व किया गया है से अधिक गतिशील है और कुछ लोगों को क्या लगता है कि विज्ञान है वास्तव में कला और विज्ञान के उपायों निश्चित चीजें और जिंदगी है. उदाहरण के लिए दवाई ले लो .. यह वास्तव में लोगों और इस के श्रृंगार की समझ अलग रूप में एक कला है क्योंकि माप की प्रणाली विकसित करने की आवश्यकता है शरीर limite है. एक वैज्ञानिक सच्चाई नहीं बनाया जा सकता है या नष्ट कर दिया, लेकिन यह है कि दुनिया गोल है और यह है कि कुछ पौधे आदि मौजूद के एक ब्रह्मांड, अब तक के अध्ययन के लिए फिर से, के रूप में है कहने के लिए कि मामला है माप की प्रणालियां विकस
i think this is so cool and science is really good.
I seen this video clip in science and this is when we got taught about this. I seen at the end of the video what this website was and i thought i would give it a try.
I go to the vale of leven academy and i would like to thank you for showing me amazing things
thank you and good bye
i will be back again to comment.
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Credits…
With thanks to: Everybody who contributed to the website The Staff and Students of Camden School for Girls Institute of Education, University of London QinetiQ ESA British Antarctic Survey EFDA-JET Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute New College, Oxford NA...……