Question: What is your favorit thing about science

Grant Campbell answered on 10 Mar 2013:

@piggles and @bluedude. For some people, the answer might be what science allows them to do – its practical use. And I’m pleased to be able to enjoy many of the practical benefits of science. But for me, the answer is the satisfaction and enjoyment of understanding how the world works and how incredibly beautiful and complicated it is.

My favourite scientific concept is…wait for it…Pressure! I had a friend a long time ago to whom I used to ask scientific questions from time to time, and one time she responded “Pressure – pressure – the answer to your questions is always pressure!” And that was actually a very insightful answer, because pressure is the reason for a lot of interesting things. I now teach my first year students about pressure, and I introduce the widespread relevance of this concept by having a number of examples where pressure is important – fizzy drink, balloon, pop gun, squirty cream, bubbles – and ask them to spot the connection.

Just recently my 6 year old asked me to teach her about pressure. My starting point is to explain that pressure is a form of energy. That’s not how most of us think of pressure – we think of it as force per unit area – but it’s actually more useful to think about it as a form of energy. So when you blow up a balloon, you do work – that work energy ends up in the balloon as pressure energy – when you let it go, the pressure energy converts into kinetic energy and it flies around the room.

Actually, I think my favourite thing about science is teaching it!