A fascination with the superficial: Why aren't scientific careers greatly desired by most of todays youth?

I walk through my local newsagents, and leisurely scan the dozens of magazines laid out on a shelf in front of me. As I look, a range of different titles travel past my eye-line, and almost all seem to have identical content. "So and so has started dating so and so". "This actress has released a new set of makeup products". "Has so and so recently had breast surgery?" "Mr and Mrs whatever are naming their new born child so and so" (usually something unnecessary and ridiculous).

 As a fan of the fantastic "New Scientist magazine", I find it takes me quite a while to find the latest copy under the piles of glossy, frothy literature that offers information on celebrity gossip, fashion tips and shock horror stories; hardly information worth reading about. And yet here they are in their dozens, filling up the shelves of my local store, as well as hundreds of thousands of other stores all around the globe; any reading material of true worth being smothered and mostly overlooked.

This is one reason why I believe the majority of todays youth seem to have less interest in scientific subjects. The excessive flurry of useless, superficial and frankly shit information.

This flurry of shit does not end with reading material of course, as most will be aware of the many programmes on television that also provides this service. From "Keeping up with the Kardashians", Geordie, and Jersey Shore, "The only was is Essex", and anything including Katie Price, as well as many, many others fill the tv screens of millions and giving todays youth a clear message; menial subjects are important as hell. The specific makeup you wear is vital. The jacket worn by Beyonce looks so fantastic, you must get one. Unless you spend almost all of your time getting drunk and dancing, rather than reading the ancient and redundant construct known as a book, your life is of little value.


A characteristic that most scientific appreciators portray is an awareness of the world around them, and what issues need to be addressed. A lover of physics is aware of the importance Space Exploration will bring to our understanding of the universe. A lover of genetics is aware of the future implications gene therapy will have in combatting disease caused by mutations in the DNA, and Zoology lovers are aware of how necessary the Amazon Rainforest is at staving off the threat of catastrophic climate change. A lover of shows such as Geordie Shore, and of superficial and irrelevant magazines, is aware of Iggy Azaleas nude pictures, or of Nikki Minaj's wardrobe do's and don't, leading to young people ignoring the threats science must address and the things it can achieve, and paying attention to the minor, and the meaningless, and the stupid.

It seems unlikely that scientists went into their profession to earn money. I mean, unless you are a tenured professor, or a successful scientific writer /communicator, the big bucks are going to be firmly out of your grasp. And in a society rife with celebrity gossip and the fashion obsessed, careers with the salaries scientific jobs pay are not going to be greatly desired by modern youth.

Out of the many existing reality programmes, many are based on the lives of the wealthy, portraying them sunbathing on the beaches of Spain, driving expensive cars, and having otherwise "wonderful" lives. And these youth, attracted to the ideas of being able to afford such extravagant commodities, will aim for careers that will hopefully make them as much money as possible. A mentality skewed towards items seems to have become of greater value to todays youth, over the much more selfless aim to improve and learn about the world around them. But then again the majority of the celebrity icons that surround us today rarely seem to show any form of altruism, so it is to be expected that their many fans develop similar characteristics.

Today there exist a wide array of science based documentaries appearing on our television screens. From Neil deGrasse Tyson's modern reboot of "Cosmos", to the awe-inspiring documentaries of Sir David Attenborough, a drop of knowledge can be found in the long stretching river of viscous ignorance. Social media pages such as "Scibabe", and "Tysonism" (two of my personal favourites), work to spread scientific information, while scrutinising the less refutable claims of others, allowing the young people brought up on the mainstream non-sensical to discover the wonders of knowledge and logical thinking. And magazines can be found in most stores that contain science-based articles (if you dig hard enough). Magazines such as "Scientific American" and "BBC Wildlife magazine". However in my opinion, this is not enough, and people must have scientific concepts, ideas and news laid out in front of them by the media in great force; much like the sexual exploits of Kim Kardashian seems to be laid out in front of our faces, although hopefully with less depressingly desperate, attention seeking visuals.

Our planet, with its ever increasing ideas, discoveries, and threats in dire need of confrontation, deserves to be inherited by humans beings that are intelligent enough, logical enough, and forward thinking enough, to allow scientific knowledge and innovation to increase and prosper for millennia to come. And by cultivating a scientific mindset in our youth, these future millenniums could be truly incredible.


-Thomas Glen
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Images: Not mine

The beauty of Science Books

There are a number of reasons why the majority of people read and appreciate novels. Novels can transport you to another world, maybe back in time, another planet, or even a whole new universe entirely. They can help you to take your mind off of you own problems by allowing you to delve into the trials of tribulations of a fictional characters. However, science books are not considered to have these same abilities.

The first science book I ever read (that wasn't a textbook) was "Evolution-What the fossils say and why it matters" by Donald R Prothero when I was 16. Before then, my reading list consisted mostly of novels from young adult writers such as Anthony Horowitz, Malorie Blackman and Charlie Higson. I decided to give this evolution-based book a try, as I was soon to be starting an animal biology based course at college, and I wanted to improve my knowledge on certain subjects. This book had no running storyline, no characters developments, and no sudden twists in the plot at the very end. But what it did have was truly fascinating information. It discussed prehistoric landscapes long gone such as the Cambrian explosion. It discussed the knowledge we have gained from studying rock formations, as well as the fossilised creatures that became trapped within them millions of years previous. It even introduced me to the debate between christians and evolutionists about the type of information should be taught in schools. I may not have been getting absorbed into the story of a fictional character, or creating mental images of facial features based on the descriptive abilities of the writer, but my view of the world was changing. I was finally discovering how humans were able to turn from single cell organisms, into the bipedal, cognitively capable primates we are today. All because of one science book.

Science books truly can educate you on the world around us. Certain books from great scientific minds such as Stephen J Gould, Steven Hawking and Carl Sagan, introduce us to concepts that will likely be brand new to the average laymen of science, such as speciation, gravitational lenses, and biostratigraphy. Older writers such as Charles Darwin teach us about the great scientific strides occurring in their time. Certain parts of their books may be obsolete and/or disproven nowadays, but they still allow us to discover how the scientific method was being practiced in another period of time; making us aware of the stepping stones achieved before our modern scientific intelligence was reached. 

There are also modern writers who try their hardest to introduce subjects that may appear tedious to the masses. Writer and scientist Richard Forte has a number of books based around the subject of geology, which have gone on to become very successful; which is an impressive feat when you think about how little interest most people have in the study of rocks. There are also many books for children discussing dinosaurs, volcanoes, the planets in our solar system, as well as many other scientific subjects providing young minds with knowledge about the exciting world we inhabit. 

Science books are truly beautiful things that allow us access to detailed information on the world and the universe around us. They can also play a large part in creating great scientists of the future. When I walk into a water-stones book shop and visit the science section, the selection is awe-inspiring. In one area there may be a "DK illustrated encyclopaedia of the universe". In another there may be "Biophilia" by E.O Wilson. in another there may be "Ocean of life by Callum Roberts". Many scientists don't just want to learn about our world, but they want to get others to learn about the world as well. Which is why there exist thousands of science books, as well as many more being published as we speak; all available for the public (usually for a reasonable price). They have written these books hopefully not just to make money, but to inspire the scientists of tomorrow, and create a more scientifically literate society. 

One of the most threatening issues with our modern society is ignorance. Ignorance has caused hundreds of thousands of people to turn against vaccinations, to disagree with evolution, and to not take climate change as seriously as it needs to be taken. This, on many occasions life threatening, ignorance is dangerous and needs to be overcome; and science books can play a major part in doing this. They are sources of information on any scientific subject you can think of, some written in detail for the experts, and others written more simply for the laymen. But they will only be of use if people actually take the time to pick them up and give them a read.

I am a zoology student, studying at Roehampton University in London. I have always been a lover of the natural world, but this love escalated rapidly when I discovered the books of Richard Dawkins. His books were so in-depth, yet written clearly so that I was able to understand. They introduced me to natural phenomena that my teachers had failed to provide for me; evolution and genetics in particular. But they didn't just fill my head with information, they improved my view of the world I live in. They revealed it to be more exciting, more important, as well as insanely unusual. They also made me love Zoology more than I believed I could.

 Science books can open our eyes, eyes once blinded by the menial and the unimportant, to a world of beauty and intricacy. And if more people took the time to read them, they will pave the way to a more intelligent, logical and exceptional world.

-Thomas Glen

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