• Question: Why did you decide to choose science over all the other subjects at school and what has science got to do with building computers, because I thought that it would be more to do with technology?

    Asked by 424spaa52 to Julian, Heather, Helen, Hugh, Jane on 7 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by FelicityP.
    • Photo: Julian Onions

      Julian Onions answered on 7 Nov 2014:

      I chose science because
      a) I was relatively good at it, compared to say English which I was appalling at!
      b) I always liked finding out how things work, and still do.
      c) I think if you are passionate about something, you make the extra effort to understand and so get enjoyment from it. I was never passionate about learning French for instance, so my French is pretty bad.

      I don’t build computers, I use them. Computers allow you to make models of things. Make universes by getting them to follow fairly simple rules, but lots and lots of times. So they are a means to an end really.

      You could do it with pencil and paper, but no one has that much time!

    • Photo: Heather Campbell

      Heather Campbell answered on 15 Nov 2014:

      I chose science because I found it so interesting when I was younger (and still true today!). It idea of doing an experiment or taking some images of space to find out something no one else ever new was really exciting.

      I also had a fantastic science teacher who really inspired me.

      Choosing subjects that you find the most interesting is always a good idea! If you want to study at Uni three years is a long time, so it has to be something you find fascinating and really want to learn more about.

      I use computers, some like yours at school and some super-computers (really really big ones) to analysis astronomical images and data to try and discover new things, so as an astronomer we have to be a bit of a computer programer. But your right building them is a bit more technology than science.

    • Photo: Helen Johnson

      Helen Johnson answered on 16 Nov 2014:

      I chose science because I thought it was really exciting to study how everything works and where we come from. I had loads of different ideas about what I wanted to do with my future, but in the end I settled on science and maths A levels 😀 and I’m really glad I did. I have the best job right now!

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