Category Science

Some scientists do wear white coats and work with test tubes, but many do most of their work in the world outside. A geologist, gist, for example, may have to clamber a cliff face to obtain samples of rock. Not all scientists wear white coats and work in labs. There are a wide variety of jobs and careers that require knowledge and application of science, from research to business and from regulation to teaching.

The Business Scientist underpins excellent management and business skills with scientific knowledge, supporting evidence-led decision-making within companies and other enterprises. This type of scientist has the scientific and technical knowledge to be credible with colleagues and competitors, as well as confidence in a business environment. They are found in science and technology companies in a wide variety of roles, from R&D or marketing, and to the C-suite itself.

The Developer, or translational, Scientist uses the knowledge generated by others and transforms it into something that society can use. They might be developing products or services, ideas that change behaviour, improvements in health care and medicines, or the application of existing technology in new settings.

They are found in research environments and may be working with Entrepreneur and Business scientists to help bring their ideas to market.

The Entrepreneur Scientist makes innovation happen. Their scientific knowledge and connections are deep enough to be able to see opportunities for innovation – not just in business, but also in the public sector and other sectors of society.

They blend their science knowledge and credibility with people management skills, entrepreneurial flair and a strong understanding of business and finance, to start their own businesses or help grow existing companies.

The Explorer Scientist is someone who, like the crew of the Enterprise, is on a journey of discovery “to boldly go where no one has gone before”. They rarely focus on a specific outcome or impact; rather they want to know the next piece of the jigsaw of scientific understanding and knowledge. They are likely to be found in a university or research centre or in Research & Development (R&D) at an organisation, and are likely to be working alone.

The Regulator Scientist is there to reassure the public that systems and technology are reliable and safe, through monitoring and regulation. They will have a mix of skills and while they may not get involved in things like lab work, they will have a thorough understanding of the science and the processes involved in monitoring its use or application. They are found in regulatory bodies, such as the Food Standards Agency, and in a wide range of testing and measurement services.

The Technician Scientist provides operational scientific services in a wide range of ways. These are the scientists we have come to depend on within the health service, forensic science, food science, health and safety, materials analysis and testing, education and many other areas. Rarely visible, this type of scientist is found in laboratories and other support service environments across a wide variety of sectors.

The Investigator Scientist digs into the unknown observing, mapping, understanding and piecing together in-depth knowledge and data, setting out the landscape for others to translate and develop. They are likely to be found in a university or research centre or in Research & Development (R&D) at an organisation, working in a team and likely in a multi-disciplinary environment.

It is incredible to us now that five hundred years ago it was possible for a person to have a good understanding of every branch of science then known. Today there is so much information available that no one person can be informed about every area of science, and even specialists has difficulty in keeping up with new developments. There is a long established tradition that scientists who have made a new discovery publish a “paper” or article on the subject in scientific journals. People working in the same field can then read this to keep up to date with their subject. Some discoveries are so important or amazing that they reach the general public, through radio, television, books and newspapers.

Until the past decade, scientists, research institutions, and government agencies relied solely on a system of self-regulation based on shared ethical principles and generally accepted research practices to ensure integrity in the research process. Among the very basic principles that guide scientists, as well as many other scholars, are those expressed as respect for the integrity of knowledge, collegiality, honesty, objectivity, and openness. These principles are at work in the fundamental elements of the scientific method, such as formulating a hypothesis, designing an experiment to test the hypothesis, and collecting and interpreting data. In addition, more particular principles characteristic of specific scientific disciplines influence the methods of observation; the acquisition, storage, management, and sharing of data; the communication of scientific knowledge and information; and the training of younger scientists.1 How these principles are applied varies considerably among the several scientific disciplines, different research organizations, and individual investigators.

The basic and particular principles that guide scientific research practices exist primarily in an unwritten code of ethics. Although some have proposed that these principles should be written down and formalized, the principles and traditions of science are, for the most part, conveyed to successive generations of scientists through example, discussion, and informal education. As was pointed out in an early Academy report on responsible conduct of research in the health sciences, “a variety of informal and formal practices and procedures currently exist in the academic research environment to assure and maintain the high quality of research conduct”.

Physicist Richard Feynman invoked the informal approach to communicating the basic principles of science in his 1974 commencement address at the California Institute of Technology:

[There is an] idea that we all hope you have learned in studying science in school—we never explicitly say what this is, but just hope that you catch on by all the examples of scientific investigation. It’s a kind of scientific integrity, a principle of scientific thought that corresponds to a kind of utter honesty—a kind of leaning over backwards. For example, if you’re doing an experiment, you should report everything that you think might make it invalid—not only what you think is right about it; other causes that could possibly explain your results; and things you thought of that you’ve eliminated by some other experiment, and how they worked—to make sure the other fellow can tell they have been eliminated.

Details that could throw doubt on your interpretation must be given, if you know them. You must do the best you can—if you know anything at all wrong, or possibly wrong—to explain it. If you make a theory, for example, and advertise it, or put it out, then you must also put down all the facts that disagree with it, as well as those that agree with it. In summary, the idea is to try to give all the information to help others to judge the value of your contribution, not just the information that leads to judgment in one particular direction or another.

Anyone can make a guess, but scientists set about finding out if their ideas are true in an organized way. A hypothesis is a theory — an idea — about why something happens or what makes something work. A scientist will then try to think of a way of testing whether this idea is correct. Often this will mean designing a special experiment.

A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be explained with the available scientific theories. Even though the words “hypothesis” and “theory” are often used synonymously, a scientific hypothesis is not the same as a scientific theory. A working hypothesis is a provisionally accepted hypothesis proposed for further research, in a process beginning with an educated guess or thought.

A different meaning of the term hypothesis is used in formal logic, to denote the antecedent of a proposition; thus in the proposition “If P, then Q“, P denotes the hypothesis (or antecedent); Q can be called a consequent. P is the assumption in a (possibly counterfactual) What If question.

The adjective hypothetical, meaning “having the nature of a hypothesis”, or “being assumed to exist as an immediate consequence of a hypothesis”, can refer to any of these meanings of the term “hypothesis”.

Scientific study relies on collecting and interpreting information (data). Sometimes thousands of different observations or measurements are made. Computers can help to collect and organize the data. For example, an astronomer might want to study the movement of a planet. A computer, attached to a radio telescope, can measure the position of the planet every five minutes for weeks — a task that would be very tedious for a scientist. Having collected the data, the computer can also process it and use it to predict future patterns of movement. Likewise, computers can perform very complex calculations at incredible speed, working out in less than a second something that a century ago might have taken a lifetime to calculate. Other computer programs can draw three-dimensional plans of objects as tiny as an atom or as large as a cathedral. These models can be turned on screen so that all sides can be viewed. Finally, scientists can search for information on the Internet, instead of visiting libraries that may be in other countries.

Science has changed the world. The modern world – full of cars, computers, washing machines, and lawnmowers -simply wouldn’t exist without the scientific knowledge that we’ve gained over the last 200 years. Science has cured diseases, decreased poverty, and allowed us to communicate easily with hundreds of different cultures. The technology that we develop not only helps us in our everyday lives, it also helps scientists increase human knowledge even further.

Science is the pursuit of knowledge about the natural world through systematic observation and experiments. Science is really about the process, not the knowledge itself. It’s a process that allows inconsistent humans to learn in consistent, objective ways. Technology is the application of scientifically gained knowledge for practical purpose, whether in our homes, businesses, or in industry. Today we’re going to discuss how that technological know-how gained through science allows us to expand our scientific knowledge even further.

It’s hard to imagine science without technology. Science is all about collecting data, or in other words, doing experiments. To do an experiment, you need equipment, and even the most basic equipment is technology. Everything from the wheel to a Bunsen burner to a mirror is technology. So all experiments use technology.

But, as technology advances, we are able to do experiments that would have been impossible in the past. We can use spectroscopes (for spectrometers) to shine light through material and see what elements it’s made of. We can use gigantic telescopes to see into the far reaches of our universe. We can use MRI scanners to study the inside of the human body and even the brain itself.

We can use a microscope to see the very tiny. And, we can use electronic devices to take measurements that are far more precise than anything that came before us. Technology is at the heart of all modern science experiments.