• Question: What inspired you to become a scientist? What is your favorite substance in the periodic table?

    Asked by leegun12 to Barbara, Alice JB, Andy on 17 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by habiba12.
    • Photo: Alice Jones Bartoli

      Alice Jones Bartoli answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      I was inspired to become a scientist after doing some work experience at Great Ormond Street Hospital with some really brilliant psychologists. The work that they did was interesting and made a difference to the people that they were working with. I find working with people rewarding, and particularly working with people who get sidelined by society, or at definitely at risk of being excluded from normal society.

      My favourite element in the periodic table is mercury (Hg), it’s one of the oldest elements that we know about, it’s also the only common metal that is liquid at room temperature, it looks beautiful. It is pretty poisonous though.

    • Photo: Barbara Guinn

      Barbara Guinn answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      I really liked learning about the human body and was always interested in medicine and then when I did A’levels I loved Genetics and did a degree at University in that.
      My favourite substance in the periodic table is Argon. It’s a nice word and I like the way it sounds…. is that a good enough reason? If not Argon is from a Greek word meaning lazy because it doesn’t react with almost anything and it’s the third most common gas in the atmosphere, more common than carbon dioxide and it is colourless.

    • Photo: Andy Norton

      Andy Norton answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      I was inspired to become a scientist when I was a little kid after visiting my Dad’s labs (he used to make margarines and things for a big company). We used to get to wear massive lab coats, goggles, and play around with pipettes. So since then I always thought that science was pretty cool and exciting! Since then, during school and stuff, I really enjoyed my science lessons. When I got to GCSEs, I decided that I ACTUALLY really wanted to be a scientist, not just be like my Dad. 🙂

      Oooh, my favourite element is from aluminium. It what makes up the material that I am doing my research on, as well as being important for so many applications like fast cars and food cans. In pure form, it is a soft, manageable metal that is good for light weight applications. Add a bit of oxygen to it, and it becomes hard, brittle, really very strong, and the most common ceramic that there is around. It always think that that is pretty neat.

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