Blog #9 - Thoreau's Walden Ch. The Pond in Winter; Pennock "Attentiveness and the Love of Nature"11/6/2016 What I really liked about this week’s reading was how it more readily discussed specific characteristics that make up the emotion in the scientific character. I enjoyed how the passage opened up talking about how one might believe in the stereotype that all scientists are cold-hearted and emotionless, using an example from Darwin about how he referred to himself as a machine with no wishes or affections and saying that he possessed a heart of stone. This quote honestly surprised me considering the way Darwin’s contemporaries portrayed his character in his obituaries that we discussed in last week’s class. Darwin, in my opinion, seemed to embody the farthest thing from a cold-hearted emotionless scientist, but rather a passionate, patient, and kind scientist. Another thing that I really enjoyed about this section was all of its references to Star Trek and its characters and how they in fact embodied a lot of the thrill behind exploring the natural world and the mystery and fascination that many scientists share when experimenting and observing on subjects never before discussed.
Another thing that really stood out to me in this week’s reading was the reference to science as a romance. I had always originally thought that many scientific explorations were performed with attentiveness, wonder, and adventure, however, I never made the connection between passion for furthering the knowledge of the natural world as being comparable to the passion between lovers. This intrigued me and made me think of science and the devotion many scientists have towards their research and their accomplishments in a different light. What I found most fascinating from the reading, The Pond in Winter, was when the author talks about how we only know a few laws of nature and the natural sciences, and how it is even more wonderful and complex the great number of vast laws that operate in harmony with concurring laws in which we have yet to detect. I never thought about the natural world in that light before and it astonishes me that he is able to think this deeply about the natural world around us just by observing the pond in winter. The way he speaks of the unknown natural laws is beautiful, he speaks in such a passionate and fascinated tone that it is inspiring and almost exciting that there is still so much for us to observe and discover from nature and the world around us. This reading really connected to our discussion about emotion and scientific work and how scientists and researchers must find the balance between emotion and passion for their work as well as being detached from the data as to prevent any bias towards an answer or hypothesis
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