• Question: who is your favorite scientist

    Asked by choccychoccybiscuit to Andrew, Beth, Bruce, Lindy, Lizzie on 18 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by hotshot.
    • Photo: Lindy Heath

      Lindy Heath answered on 18 Jun 2012:

      My favourite scientist is a guy called Samuel Stephens Kistler. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Kistler
      He invented aerogels as a result of a bet with his fellow scientist Charles Learned. Learned bet Kistler that he couldn’t replace the liquid within a jelly jar with air without causing any shrinkage. Kistler showed that by using supercritical fluids he could remove the liquid and replace it with air without causing damage. And so the aerogel was born. Without the discovery made by Kistler and the publication of his results in 1931 I would not be making aerogels today! I still use the same process that Kistler invented in the 1930’s to produce my aerogels. What a fantastic guy!

    • Photo: Beth Mortimer

      Beth Mortimer answered on 18 Jun 2012:

      Charles Darwin. He came up with the theory of evolution through natural selection (at the same time as another scientist Alfred Russel Wallace). He built up his evidence over many years, and put forward his theory despite very hostile attitudes to his work at the time, as it was thought to go against religion. He also didn’t have all the answers – for example he did not know how information was passed from parent to offspring, and only later were genes discovered to further explain what Darwin described. His work was a massive step forward for biological research.

    • Photo: Lizzie Eaves

      Lizzie Eaves answered on 19 Jun 2012:

      My favourite scientist is Carl Sagan. He has nothing to do with the area of science that I work in, but he did a lot of research into space which absolutely fascinates me. The fact that he achieved so much in his career and even was on TV (He was like a 1980’s Prof Brian Cox) inspires me!

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