• Question: Was it hard to learn all about science and how long did it take to learn EVERYTHING?

    Asked by 299xygg26 to Roisin, Michel, Mark, Gavin, Karen on 10 Nov 2016. This question was also asked by 459xygg26, 257xygg26.
    • Photo: Mark Kennedy

      Mark Kennedy answered on 10 Nov 2016:

      I’ll let you know when I’ve done it 😉

      I don’t think any scientist would ever claim to know everything. I mean, I know a lot about astrophysics and the Universe, but I know nothing about biology, or blood, or deep mathematics, or engineering!

      But it does take a long time to learn about the science of your field. I’ve been studying physics since I was 16, and I’ve been studying astrophysics since I was 21, and I am only now getting to the stage where I’m learning things no once else has learnt before.

      It’s never too early to start learning though. I’ll recommend to you the book that got me into astronomy: Death by Black Hole by Neil DeGrasse Tyson (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20663770-death-by-black-hole). There’s a good place for you to start.

    • Photo: Roisin Jones

      Roisin Jones answered on 10 Nov 2016:

      Oh how I wish I knew everything! It would make life so much easier!

      In terms of learning about science, it has taken a good bit of work to get where I am now: obviously taking science at Junior Cert, then chemistry (and physics) at Leaving Cert, then a college degree in chemistry, and now I’m into my final year of my PhD, all of which adds up to about 14 years worth of studying science! Not all of it has been hard though: I really love the stuff I do, so that makes it easier to study, and I love learning about new stuff in science, which makes it seem less like hard work.

    • Photo: Karen

      Karen answered on 10 Nov 2016:

      I certainly don’t know everything. I don’t even know everything about haematology but I am continually learning. To get to my level in medical science (senior) you need a degree and a masters degree so minimum of 6 years studying, 7 if you go to cork (it’s a 5 year degree there).

    • Photo: Michel Destrade

      Michel Destrade answered on 10 Nov 2016:

      Ha, but that’s the thing, you just can’t learn everything about science, it’s endless. There are about 2 millions scientific papers published every year so forget it! Scientists have to specialise early into a field, and even in their field they can’t know everything because it’s improving all the time. Once you understand that you relax a little and stop worrying about keeping up with everything. So being a scientist means learning all the time, for ever!

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