Science

The intricate details of our complicated world cannot be understood by even the smartest among us because our brains are really quite weak and pathetic. This is where science comes in. Science is all about glossing over the details by building models and making metaphores about the world around us, so that we can try to understand how things work. The models we learn about in elementary school differ only in their level of detail from those we learn about later on in life. Every so often, it's comforting to forget all about the complicated models and convoluted metaphores that I have to grapple with every day at the lab and go back to the colourful, albeit simplified, models and metaphores that had attracted me to science as a kid. Yesterday, I had the chance to relive my dorky childhood with a few other grad students when we went to the Ontario Science Centre.

The OSC is very much like Science World (soon to be called the Telusphere...no, I'm serious) in Vancouver. The centre is divided into zones -- Space, the Body, Communication, and so on -- and each zone has various displays that demonstrate a basic scientific principle in a kid friendly way. To be honest, I don't think the OSC is a place to learn about science because kids generally don't like to read about the science behind the "fun". But that's not the point. The point is to get the little suckers hooked on science when they're young so they eventually become graduate students who work long hours when I become a PI with my own lab one day...muahahahahahahahahaha.


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