• Question: What One Scientist Do You Admire? And Why Is There Work So Intresting To You?

    Asked by peach to Alastair, Emma, Hywel, Keith, Vicki on 17 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Alastair Sloan

      Alastair Sloan answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      That’s a difficult one Peach. I would say Joesph Lister, because his understanding of infection of wounds and the discovery of antiseptic agents revolutionised medicine and surgery and was the start of modern medicine. His work is interesting to me as he had good scientific method – he observed things, formed hypothesis and tested them out carefully. His work and discovery saved lives and continues to save lives

    • Photo: Vicki Stevenson

      Vicki Stevenson answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Hi Peach
      I think I’d probably go for John Snow – he was a doctor who worked out that a cholera outbreak in Soho was due to contaminated water from the local pump. The water was contaminated because the water company was supplying water from parts of the river polluted with sewage (this was before people knew how dangerous this was!). Through Snow’s work (among others) we now know the importance of good hygiene. Many other medical breakthroughs we have now would be useless if we didn’t know this basic requirement!
      I also admire the way he solved the problem – he made a spot map to illustrate how the cholera cases were centred around the pump and used statistics to show the connection between water quality and cholera cases.

    • Photo: Keith Brain

      Keith Brain answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      I will have to be predictable, and say:
      Charles Darwin: He made careful observations (his original writings are very interesting), worked steadily and didn’t rush, and had one clear and breathtakingly simple idea that changed a scientific field. That is hard to beat.

      There are some scientists who had some other really great ideas, but weren’t such nice people. Einstein was brilliant, but I think that some of his ideas were a bit wrong later in life (particularly regarding quantum mechanics).

      However, I do have several scientists I come into contact with that I’d like to copy “bits” of – you’re always learning, not just how to do experiments, but how to work with people, and how to be a good person. Still plenty for me to learn!

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