Scientists "R" Us

 

Dear Sir/Madam

I wonder if you can help me with the scientist that I bought from your Scientists ‘R’ Us catalogue. It arrived this morning and, as you can imagine, I was really excited. I’ve never had my own scientist! I once had a goldfish and sometimes my next-door-neighbour lets me throw a ball for her dog, but that’s really not the same. I was imagining all the envious looks of my friends at school. None of them have one. My friend Lilly once told me that her mum was a scientist but I quickly found out she was a sports scientist. She can’t fool me - sounds totally made up!

So you can imagine my disappointment when I finally got my scientist. I think there must have been some mistake. It doesn’t even have a white coat, let alone a beard. In fact, she looks like anyone you might pass in the supermarket: very, very normal. I really don’t think she can be the scientist I ordered.

Please can you make sure that I receive my order by the end of the week. I want to show him off at my school science fair. In the meantime, can you tell me what to do with this woman who you sent me?

Yours Faithfully,

Jessica Potter

 

 

Dear Jessica,

Thank you for your letter.

We were sorry to hear you were not satisfied with your order. I can assure you that Dr Catherine Astley is an authentic, Cambridge-educated and very highly-regarded scientist. She’s an astrophysicist who is researching how the very first stars formed!

She’s looking back at the early moments after the Big Bang and what happened at the very birth of the universe. She may not have a beard or a white coat but she’s at the forefront of some pretty exciting developments.

You seem to have some funny ideas about what scientists should look like Jessica. Scientists aren’t all like the bearded mad scientists they show in cartoons! Do take the time to get to know Dr Astley - it will be enlightening.

Yours Sincerely,

Trudy Stone, Scientists ‘R’ Us

PS Lilly’s mum may well be a sports scientist. What makes you think she isn’t? There are all different types of scientists.

 

 

Dear Trudy

I read your letter and decided to give my scientist the benefit of the doubt and take her to the school science fair. The whole of my class was presenting science projects. In fact, I’ll come clean: Dr Astley was my project. Some of the other children had prepared experiments. Molly was mixing bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. Now that was some good science - really smelly and messy. I started to worry a bit about my contribution but then I remembered what you said about Dr Catherine Astley and felt confident again. I set up my stall and displayed my sign saying:

‘Real live scientist. Ask her anything.’

Of course, some people were a little doubtful. Like me they didn’t think she looked like a real scientist. But I told them that they could ask her anything and was pretty sure that would prove me right. Some of the teachers had even come to see what she’d have to say.

However, things quickly went wrong. Ralph Edwards in year 3 asked my scientist whether different breeds of dogs spoke different languages. You can imagine my embarrassment when Dr Astley told him she didn’t know! I thought maybe it was nerves or something but she seemed genuinely stumped. Then, Katie Holt in year 5 asked her whether you could bounce a ball on the custard skin in our school lunches and Dr Catherine suggested that Katie go away and find out. They had quite a long conversation about how you’d make it a fair test, variables and all those things. They were really quite animated about it all.

I’m sure you are as horrified as I am, Trudy. Catherine has pulled the wool over both of our eyes. Scientists know everything. Everyone knows that. This woman can’t even answer simple questions about custard and dogs. So this woman is certainly NOT a scientist.

Now that the science fair is over, I no longer need a scientist. Please let me know how I can send my scientist back for a refund.

Yours in expectation,

Jessica Potter

 

 

Dear Jessica

I’m afraid to disappoint you but it is you who has had the wool pulled over your eyes. Who told you that scientists know everything?

What makes a true scientist is the curiosity to try to find things out (not knowing everything already). They ask lots of questions and are always wondering about things. They’re a bit like children in that way.

Another thing about scientists is that they don’t just ask those questions. They try to find things out using observation, experiments and measurements. It’s called the scientific method. They have to be really intelligent to think of ways to find things out. Being clever isn’t just about knowing everything Jessica.

I hope this satisfies you that you do, in fact, have the scientist you requested. Maybe you could ask Dr Astley a bit more about her scientific work? I think it might be interesting.

Kind Regards,

Trudy

 

 

Dear Trudy

I’m sorry but I’m really getting fed up now. I was willing to take on board what you said about not knowing everything. I can see now that science isn’t about having all the answers. This scientific method seems pretty cool and it’s great to think that even young people like me can be scientists. I’ve been trying really hard in my science lessons and was starting to think that I might even be a scientist when I grow up.

Unfortunately, I made a bit of a mistake in our last science investigation at school. We were investigating mould by letting some bread go blue and furry and generally a bit icky. I hadn’t realised mould was a living thing. A fungus in fact. Amazing! Anyway, we’d put them in all these different places: warm places, sunny places, cold places….we even soaked some in the custard from the school dinners. We left the slices for ages and checked each day how much mould there was. We put the information in a table and the teacher said we were going to make a graph.

Anyway, last Thursday, I thought I’d discovered this new type of mould. I was pretty pleased with myself and took it to show the teacher. I was already thinking about how proud my parents would be that I was a scientific genius. The teacher prodded it a little and was looking pretty intrigued. Then she noticed that it was a bit of Toby’s lunch which had been left on the table and had stuck to the bag. It wasn’t part of the investigation - it was marmite or something.

I was pretty despondent when I got home. I realised I’d probably have to put my dreams of a career in science to one side. Catherine was there waiting, and you’ll never guess what she revealed? She said that I shouldn’t give up on science. She said that scientists make all sorts of mistakes. She even said that she had written a whole paper (like an essay I guess) about some research she’d done but that later someone else had shown that she was wrong.

My patience is wearing thin Trudy. Maybe a scientist doesn’t know everything but surely they have to be right about the things they do know. If scientists are wrong, what is the point?

I look forward to an apology and my refund.

Yours in exasperation,

Jessica

 

 

Dear Jessica,

Catherine is right. Scientists do sometimes get things wrong. I know that might seem surprising or scary but even some of the most important and clever scientists have been proven wrong. Science moves on and each scientist plays a little part in moving our knowledge and ideas further. We will never be totally ‘finished’ with science and occasionally we even have to turn around and try a different route in our enquiries.

I’ll tell you something else Jessica. What makes scientists special is that they will always be open to being proven wrong. That’s because scientific knowledge always has to be based on evidence so, if new evidence comes along, it might mean you have to abandon a theory which no longer fits. Of course, admitting that you might have been wrong is hard for everyone but the very best scientists have learned when it’s time to take a new direction.

Don’t give up on science Jessica, especially not because of a little blob of marmite!

Kind Regards,

Trudy

 

 

Dear Trudy

I have to admit you were right all along. We went out last night to watch the stars. I’ve always thought they were pretty boring. But when Catherine told me how old they were and how far away they were, I found myself feeling pretty small and pretty impressed. Do you know that the light reaching our eyes now might have left that star billions of years ago? The star might even not exist any more so it’s like we’re looking back in time. How amazing is that!

The trouble is, whilst she was telling me all this, I noticed that she had tears in her eyes. She told me she really missed her work. She loved her research and, even though she enjoyed my science fair, she was kind of hoping she could go back and get on with discovering new things.

I’ve realised that Catherine really is the real deal. Not only does she have all those other things you talked about like curiosity, a scientific method and an openness to being wrong, but she also has a very important ingredient too: passion.

I’m sending her back Trudy. No need for a refund. Thanks for letting me borrow a scientist for a while. It’s really been quite an adventure.

Yours in admiration,

Jessica