People interested in science often have experiences in their childhood that predict their adult interests. There is reference to this in “Outliers”. I came across a Ted Talk that describes the same phenomenon on a personal level (when did the scientific method originate and a personal story from Kary Mullis). Note comments on postmodernism.
I grew up on a farm and had an interest in science. There were various manifestations of this. One thing I remember that sounds strange now was that my parents let me experiment with chickens. I used to feed them different types of food and count the number of eggs they produced. I cannot remember exactly what I thought I determined, but I do remember keeping a notebook with a daily tally of eggs collected. Mom and dad did not care as long as I was willing to donate the eggs. Now, this story is not as spectaular as shooting frogs into space (Mullis\’ story), but I wonder how common such early experiences are?
BTW – Mullis does have what may be a less politically correct take on global warming and that makes him interesting as well.
