Write a paragraph in which you clarify, illustrate, extend, or complicate this quote evidence, from de Waal or other sources. Be sure to identify your other sources.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
What is Science?
Before beginning a discussion of the apes in Mount Fuji, de Waal quotes Peter Medawar, who defines a scientist as a "man who by his observations and experiments, by the literature he reads and even by the company he keeps, is putting himself in the way of winning a prize; he has made himself discovery prone" (179).
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What I dont understand about this is what it is that a scientist can do that would put him in the way of "winning a prize." I find it hard to understand what this quote is suppose to mean because of this small understnading. I suppose I can assume that it might having to do something with a scientist wanting to make a discovery because he/she is interested in it and not for recognition, but I have never read the criteria for recieving a science award so I really am shooting in the dark on that one. If all he is saying here is that you should persue knowledge for the sake of knowledge then I give him an agreeing harumph.
ReplyDeleteI thought about what this quote meant for a while and all i'm getting from it is that a who a man communicates with, what he reads and observes can all effect him. It could either make him inclined to new discoveries or prevent him from winning prizes. I'm not sure what my opinion on this is because i don't know if i'm clarifying it correctly.
ReplyDeletei think he means that just by being a scientist you are already a winner even though that sounds cheesy it seems what it is what he saying. Cause the scientist is in an atmosphere where if he does everything it says in the quote you are bound to find something worth it and that is the prize itself.
ReplyDeletei was sort of confused with this quote -_-
--miguel
I believe this quote is stating that a scientist may be praise worthy by how much he learns and does. That everything he does from the people he knows can lead him towards the path of winning a prize. I am sure there is more to this quote than what I have stated but this is as much as I understand, it’s a bit unclear to me.
ReplyDeleteTo me this quote is saying that a scientist is automatically categorized as a great person who has the potential to do or discover anything he pleases. By experiementing and researching, a scientist is put in a vulnerable position because then, anything can come his way and can lead him to a discovery. A scientist knows that trial and error will occur when experimenting but in the end, they are usually rewarded in some way. Whether finding something that proves to millions his theories are true or perhaps simply proving something that helps him as an individual scientist, he is prone to great findings.
ReplyDeleteAfter toiling this over in my head for what seems like forever, the only conclusion i could make was that due to their emense amount of dedication and love for their work, scientists are almost guaranteed to make some progress and receive recognition. It seems that de Waal includes this quote in order to decribe to his readers what he believes a true scientist to be and the different qualities that a person should have in order to be considered a real scientist. In his text, de Waal inlcudes "An aspiring field-worker may follow elephants for years to prove that cows mate with the largest bull, but if all she learns is who mates with whom, she will never amount to much of a scientist. A much broader orientation is expected. . ." (187) In this statement, de waal explains that in order to be a successful and educated scientist, one must keep their eyes open for details and findings that may have nothing to do with what they're trying to prove.
ReplyDeleteThe part of the quote that states "even by the company he keeps" can be understood a couple different ways. the way i took it was that the scientist who interacts with his subjects (the animals) and who is constantly around them can better understand them and thus will end up having the most detailed and truthful ideas which deserve recognition.
This quote was pretty confusing to me and after reading it many times i keep coming up with different ideas to add on. Hopefully what I included made sense and was relevent to the question being asked! Thanks.
With this quote I think it discusses that many things around us; like our friends, tv, movies, etc influence us and if "social learning would be faster than individual learning, this would indeed be an advantage". our surroundings could influence the good and the bad in us. I totally agree with Bianca's post. She has really good observation's on the quote and the chapter. :)
ReplyDeleteTo me this quote means that to find what your looking for, or the answer to a question that you may have, can bring you great joy. In this quote although he does mention "scientists" specifically, I took it as everyone. For example Thomas Edison did invent the light bulb on one try, be built on an idea and eventually a great invention came out of it. Regardless of how many times scientists try something, their ending result is what makes them happiest.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if students study really hard for a test, in a subject that they know their not good at, they get their test back and they get an A. That student is also "discovery prone" because they discovered that that particular subject is not as difficult as they thought. I hope I make sense. But overall I believe that De Waal is talking about more than just scientists, he just used scientists as a prime example. Because we can all be "discovery prone" if we wanted too. (-;
Scientists are always looked upon on as being really smart and always making progress in whatever they are doing at the time. To me this quote just means that by continuing to do as they regularly do, all the work scientists put into their job/career is going to pay off once they have made a breakthrough, that being their 'prize'.
ReplyDeleteI think this quote means that if a scientist surrounds himself with other people and their ideas, literature, and many experiments he will soon discover something. I feel it relates to De Waal's statement, " We cannot afford to look through a single pair of glasses to see reality" (182). De Waal states that this relates to how we view other cultures around us. He claims if you keep an open mind and view things through many perspectives like the perspectives of other cultures you will soon discovers something. He states that if you only look through one lense and with your own theories you won't see the truth.
ReplyDeleteI think this quote means that even if scientists do not get a break through with a research or anything bigthey are doing, they still have many small prizes since they are full of knowledge. Any little thing they do to help a project/research is an advantage. This is because they have so much experience and useful strategies that not many other people have.
ReplyDeleteI believe the Medawar quote is trying to explain what a scientist has to do in order to discover something. "winning the prize"(179) would maybe be making a discovery, because to a scientists' ultimate prize would be to make an discovery. The quote is trying to say in order to make an discovery one must observe, experiment, read and research. De Waal using the story of a Japanese scientist exploring Mount Fuji to illustrate Medawar's qoute "The scientist devotes his life to describing the mountain and its unparalleled steepness and perfectly symmetrical cone shape, photographing it from different angles in a fashion similar to Katsushika Hokusai's famous nineteenth-century print series"(180). This illustrates the Japanese scientist's dedication and how he observes the mountains to one day make an discovery.
ReplyDelete