Question: how did science change you as a Person?

Edward Codling answered on 21 Jun 2011:

I think at heart the person I am hasn’t been changed by science – but if I couldn’t do science then that would probably change me! Science allows me to continue studying interesting things I never would have been able to look at otherwise; it allows me to continue to keep asking questions and finding out things I didn’t know before; it allows me to satisfy my curiosity about the wrold around us. If I didn’t do science I imagine I’d be very frustrated not being able to do these things – so perhaps science has allowed me to carry on being what I want to be!

As Zara says though, doing formal science gives you a lot more confidence about yourself. I have to give presentations and teach students in big classes – this is all about communication and expressing your ideas – a useful skill whatever you are doing. Similarly the fact that science relies on evidence means that we have learnt to be good at constructing a logical argument based on the available evidence. Again, this is a very useful skill when you are trying to make a point to someone. The other thing science gives you is information/knowledge and (more importantly) the ability to understand and use it – we can learn how to interpret all the ideas and facts we see everyday. A lot of the time information we are given is ‘spun’ or misrepresented to make some sort of point (by politicians or the media) – as scientists we learn to properly scrutinise information we are given so that we can understand what the true meaning might be.