• Question: did you always know that your dream was to be a scientist?

    Asked by Ellie to Lucy, Huma, Jack, Miranda, Peter on 7 Nov 2016. This question was also asked by DiTGM, Amy.
    • Photo: Huma Shah

      Huma Shah answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      Hello Ellie, Well I believe we’re all scientists from the time we’re born. By this I mean making sense of our world from when we first see/hear/touch/smell/taste and sense things. We’re constantly testing through our behaviour /actions and revising how and when we do things. So you’re a scientist too Ellie 🙂

      Being a professional scientist, where you work in science and get paid to do it, no I wouldn’t say it was a dream, really for me it’s more from the early 90’s when Alan Turing’s confidential code-breaking became known, the first Loebner Prize for Artificial Intelligence contest was held (1991) and I recalled 2001: Space Odyssey movie and saw Aliens2 and Terminator 2 that I really started thinking about talking robots and why we don’t have them in reality. The Turing test is a simple but brilliant idea using talk to see if a machine is smart.

      Apologies for the long answer!

    • Photo: Peter Boorman

      Peter Boorman answered on 14 Nov 2016:

      Hi Ellie,

      From a very young age I was inspired by my parents to study science of some sort, but I’ve always had an interest in space in particular! I agree with Huma though that everyone is a scientist from the time they’re born!

      Peter

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