4. How and why do you think science gets done?
Science is an ambitious endeavor. It is a pursuit of knowledge – sometimes overwhelmingly frustrating, but satisfying if successful. Research as a tool for the advancement of science and scientific knowledge can be likened to solving a jigsaw puzzle without having the box: an attempt to piece together bits of information without knowing what the full picture looks like or if the pieces we *think* fit together actually do.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) critiques ‘good science’ according to two guidelines: 1) scientific merit and 2) broader impacts. Scientific merit refers to how the work in question will expand the knowledge of a particular subfield, whereas broader impacts gauge the results of a specific scientific endeavor with regards to its influence outside of the scientific community. When researchers are applying for funding, they justify these points to validate their science.
Progress on such projects (“how science gets done”) varies according to personal habits and work ethic. As Mary Vaughn points out in Hominids, the ‘professional scientist’ did not arise as a profession until the 1960s. Once recognized as an occupation, research could fulfill a passion for exploring the unknown and pay the bills. But getting paid to do science requires commitment and independence, since working on issue that no one knows the answer to can be frustrating. Maintaining productivity even when “stuck” is probably the biggest struggle of research. In order to do so, most scientists maintain a structured weekly schedule and work according to daily goals they outline for each week. They record their progress and thought processes in a lab notebook – like Mark Watney’s logs!
The underlying motivation for science (“why science gets done”) is, in short, driven by a desire to explore the unknown and understand the world in which we live. Astronomer Phil Plait, who runs a science blog called Bad Astronomy, commented: “We study science because we want to learn about the real world…Science is about exploration and discovery, and making sure we don’t fool ourselves. It’s among the noblest of all human endeavors, and something we should be both pursuing to our fullest abilities as well as defending from those who would drag it down” (you can read the full article here).
In any case, science is a collaborative effort that is made possible through the combined insights and expertise of many individuals. Sawyer uses the parallel experiences of Adikor and Ponter’s scientific pursuits in contrast with those of Mary, Reuben, and the SNO team to illustrate the collaborative nature of science in both universes. These similarities suggest that science in any technologically advanced universe, according to Sawyer, would arise from the same basic human desires and progress in a similar fashion.
