Everyone has a "scientific self" as Janice Koch explained in chapter two of Scientific Stories. My translation of this phrase is that everyone can find an interest in some area of science. It could be anything ranging from astronomy to biology to physics. Personally, I find my scientific self in astrology. I love that scientists can come up with predictions for mankind based on the solar system. I am very intrigued by it. I get my love of astrology from my dad. I never had a teacher explain the stars and planets the way he did. He would always take me outside and tell stories about the stars. We would also look through a telescope all of the time.
I had a notion of what a scientist was supposed to be when I was that little. I would always see movies with a crazy scientist with frizzy white hair who would blow everything up. The scientist is usually an older white male as well. I still have that picture in my head to this day and I'm sure many other people do too. The way scientists are portrayed in movies and on television is completely stereotyped and wrong. There are plenty of scientists that do not fit the usual description though. For instance, Marie Curie and Jane Goodall are two very well known scientists. Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize and discovered the elements Radium and Polonium. Jane Goodall is best known for her scientific work the chimpanzees. Not many would think of this type of work as being a scientific but that's because of the stereotype.
Like Jane Goodall, there are many ways to bring science to nature. Simple things can be done like taking a walk in the park or the woods. Other things include driving in the snow or the rain. The weather affects many things in life. You just have to make sure you stop and look at what's going on around you.
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