My Life as a Science Geek

Science Saturday is experimenting with it’s own format this week. Our writer and science geek Charlie Keeble has decided to write about his own story about his own fascination with science and the rest of the world. This was prompted by a question he received about his credentials as a science writer and decided to make a play on it.

I was inspired to write this article after I got a comment on one article I did about green politics. This question was asking the Havering Daily what my scientific credentials were to write this science feature series. I liked this question as it was also a good time for me to reflect on my decade working as a volunteer for the Science Museum. In those ten years I had been an ambassador for science promoting the museum, it’s mission and my own support for science to inspire people with the objective purpose of imagination and creativity.

To answer and explore my own passion for science I set myself a set of questions to answer which I gave in a self-made video here on YouTube. Some of the questions I put to myself are here below and I have given some brief answers. You can find me elaborating on them more in the video.

• Where does my passion for science and technology come from?

My fascination with science stems from my interest in exploring and discovering objects in nature and my desire to build and improve the world explains why I am passionate about engineering and building things.

• What fields of science am I particularly interested in and what attracts me to them?

Space exploration is my first choice that I love to read about the most. Earth and environmental science comes second where it fuses my love of nature and exploring the world’s geographical locations.

• What do I think of the current state of science presented in the media, and the way the news people hire experts to give their views and facts?

I think there is too much negative drama presented in the news on science issues. The news editors just want to project heightened fears about what affects people and places like they do with climate change and Covid-19.

Especially where on climate science stories where the media hires experts who tend to claim that ordinary people are not able fathom the data they present from the Met Office or the IPCC. I also think that patronising and vilifying people for disagreeing with you and your knowledge is not an appropriate way of demonstrating your expertise to the general public.

I want science in the media to be more about hope and optimism. The great thinkers and creators in science and art need to be heard more often to make people feel hopeful about the world and how they can expect greatness from people of great intelligence. 

• What ways do I practice and experiment with science both as a journalist and hobbyist?

As a journalist I like the way in which I can explore the reports on innovation and discovery online. I follow the news of the science from space missions on NASA and ESA’s websites and analyse them to see what is going on in the world and how it will change for better or for worse. As a hobbyist I study science by observing the night sky and looking up at the stars and planets, which I find enthralling as the lights look mysterious and that drives my curiosity. The last telescope I had I took some amazing pictures of some of my favourite celestial objects. This is my best Moon shot taken in 2011 and it captures the ethereal glow of the Moon. I’ve also taken pictures of Jupiter, Mars, Venus and the Orion Nebula. I am always tracking objects in the night sky and one of the most frequent things I can see without a telescope is the International Space Station. I have filmed many sightings of this football pitch sized spacecraft flying over Havering!

Also I have had other science hobbies that are worth mentioning that combines electronic engineering with my fondness for electronic gadgets. I once collected a partworks magazine called 3D Create and Print where I learned all about the technology in 3D printing and how to use a model making software. This has a lot of applications that can change the manufacturing processes of industry and consumer market. The magazine came with a fully functioning 3D printer that I built in stages from over 200 components. With this machine I can buy a model kit of a spitfire as a digital file, download it to my computer and print the parts off on the 3D printer.

From this experience I have learned that you do not have to be a gifted academic in science to appreciate scientific principles, you can be an ordinary citizen with a keen interest in science and practice it like an amateur. It may interest you to know that science can be practiced not just by experts but by common people with a general interest in science. Some of my heroes were not academically brilliant but made fortunes in science and industry like Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein. Some of the scientists I wrote about in Science Saturday like William Derham were not professional scientists but citizen scientist, and he discovered the speed of sound using a telescope, a timer and some riflemen.

You can be a citizen scientist by doing something like measuring everyday natural occurrences or doing something in a home based lab. Long before weather monitoring was done by meteorologists like those who work in the government offices with their sensor equipment, local people used to measure and record the weather using log books to write about what natural weather patterns were occurring where they lived.  

• What objectives do you hope to achieve in science and make an impact with?

I would like to work with a space agency or a research and development technology firm developing eco-technology equipment. Such as improvements to water provision and cultivation for conserving water or advancing space technology to make humanity a multi-planetary species.

• Do you think science and innovation works better directed by politicians and governments, or through industry and free enterprise?

I personally think free enterprise science works better because they are free to innovate and build for better advances. Politicians only take an interest in science that they can use for their own selfish interests and bringing the people to order. Green policies like ULEZ in London are created by politicians who follow science that suit their policies but not serve the people’s needs. Entrepreneurs believe that science can be used to improve civilisation and bring freedom to create and build a better world. If the environmental movement had not lost sight of it’s goal then its proponents would have successfully advanced green energy solutions decades ago.      

• What are the best qualities and characteristics of a scientist and what makes a good personality about them appealing? 

The best qualities of a scientist for me would be to have a curious mind and a quest for knowledge and adventure. But they should also have a great sense of humour in their character and be intellectual rebels with fascinations that know no bounds.

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