Australian Scientist Summary

1 Pages • Essays / Projects • Year: Pre-2021

When we learn about science, we often learn about the ‘product’ of scientific research. For example, textbooks are often an accumulation of the currently (hopefully!) accepted and highly supported theories about how our world works, and the evidence used to support those theories. While it is important to understand up-to-date scientific theory and concepts, it is equally important to realise that this knowledge was compiled through the work of individuals or, more often, teams of scientists. Scientific knowledge in textbooks is often an accumulation of smaller incremental steps that lead to a new theory and tested through multiple experiments using different organisms by different laboratories around the world. Australian scientists have made significant contributions to many aspects of science, and continue to play a significant role in the advancement of scientific knowledge and techniques. The Australian Academy of Science has been collating information about key Australian scientists by interviewing past and present scientists and posting the transcripts of the interviews online. The list of scientists interviewed can be found at the following link: https://www.science.org.au/learning/general-audience/history/interviews-australian-scientists (copy this link and paste in to your browser) or use the link on ILearn provided for you. Scroll through the list of Australian scientists (note: you can click ‘SHOW MORE’ at the bottom of the page several times to gain access to more scientists). Select a scientist (it doesn’t have to be a biologist) and read through the transcript of the interview. In your own words, write a paragraph about the contribution your chosen scientist has made to Australian or international science, and why this contribution is inspiring to you. Your summary should synthesise all the relevant information into a paragraph of between 200 and 300 words (inclusive).

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