Immunology Causes Deep Thoughts
No, really. Once you get past all the words you can't read/pronounce/tell are English, it's all awesome from there.
Today's post comes from a quote out of my Infections and Immunology book, "Sherris Medical Microbiology" (2010). The author writes (describing how Louis Pasteur was treated after he discovered a vaccine to zoonoses anthracis, a disease in herbivorous livestock):
"He was cheered and carried on the shoulders of the grateful farmers of the district, an experience now, unhappily, largely restricted to winning football coaches."
Powerful stuff.
No really, this whimsical sentence actually made me think for awhile. What if the great scientists of our day were celebrated as much as sports stars? Allow me to speculate.
First off, we would have a lot more scientists. Science is such an amazing field, with new discoveries made almost every day. Can you imagine how much faster we could cure diseases if everyone actually cared about who was making them and how fast they were doing it?
Secondly, science would be cool. Instead of all the kids going "Hey! I want to be like LeBron/Tebow/Louis Sebastian when I grow up!" (and yes, that last one was a Julian Smith reference), there would be more "I want to be like Marie Curie (minus the poisoning), Einstein, or Pasteur!" (don't laugh at my science people references). I'm not saying that all the kids would be way into microscopes and throat cultures, but maybe the kids who said "I want to be a scientist when I grow up!" wouldn't be made fun of for just trying to make the world a better place.
Am I picturing an alternate universe? Yes. Will this ever happen? Probably not. And that's just the way things are. But hey! When you get bored of watching people throw a ball around a court and need a vaccine for the latest and greatest disease, you can count on me.
-K
Want another Avengers picture for the road? I thought you might.
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| My two favorite science bros |
Today's post comes from a quote out of my Infections and Immunology book, "Sherris Medical Microbiology" (2010). The author writes (describing how Louis Pasteur was treated after he discovered a vaccine to zoonoses anthracis, a disease in herbivorous livestock):
"He was cheered and carried on the shoulders of the grateful farmers of the district, an experience now, unhappily, largely restricted to winning football coaches."
Powerful stuff.
No really, this whimsical sentence actually made me think for awhile. What if the great scientists of our day were celebrated as much as sports stars? Allow me to speculate.
First off, we would have a lot more scientists. Science is such an amazing field, with new discoveries made almost every day. Can you imagine how much faster we could cure diseases if everyone actually cared about who was making them and how fast they were doing it?
Secondly, science would be cool. Instead of all the kids going "Hey! I want to be like LeBron/Tebow/Louis Sebastian when I grow up!" (and yes, that last one was a Julian Smith reference), there would be more "I want to be like Marie Curie (minus the poisoning), Einstein, or Pasteur!" (don't laugh at my science people references). I'm not saying that all the kids would be way into microscopes and throat cultures, but maybe the kids who said "I want to be a scientist when I grow up!" wouldn't be made fun of for just trying to make the world a better place.
Am I picturing an alternate universe? Yes. Will this ever happen? Probably not. And that's just the way things are. But hey! When you get bored of watching people throw a ball around a court and need a vaccine for the latest and greatest disease, you can count on me.
-K
Want another Avengers picture for the road? I thought you might.
 |
| Dude. I'd do science with them any day. |
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