• Question: who is your favourite scientist

    Asked by curry to Ben, Heather, Louisa on 24 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Ben Still

      Ben Still answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      My favourite scientist is Richard Feynman. One of the best teachers of physics, a Nobel prize winner, awesome bongo player and a hell of a ladies man! An all round great man.

    • Photo: Louisa Chard

      Louisa Chard answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      I think mine is Rosalind Franklin. She worked at Kings college London in the 1950s and was hugely important in solving the structure of DNA. Her work in this field was underesimated and undervalued at the time as Watson and Crick (who published the structure of DNA) didnt acknowledge her contribution as much as they should have. Infact Franklin and her student Gosling used a technique called x-ray difraction to produce an image of DNA, which was vital in helping Watson and Crick figure out how DNA was pieced together and arranged in the double helix that is so familiar to us today. Once the structure had been solved, biology could make massive leaps forward as we could begin to undertand how DNA was replicated, how information was passed down through generations. It really was a turning point in molecular biology and the contribution of Franklin and Gosling to this discovery should not be underestimated. Thankfully now science recognises their work as vital to the discovery.

    • Photo: Heather McKee

      Heather McKee answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      hmmmmmm…….I’m gonna have to be really cheesy here and say my Mum!! She works in cardiovasular research looking into the ways in which we can best detect and prevent heart disease and subsequently heart attacks.
      Did you know diseases of the heart and circulatory system (cardiovascular disease or CVD) are the main cause of death in the UK and account for almost 198,000 deaths each year. More than one in three deaths (35%) are from CVD each year. If you think of that in terms of people thats more than twice the capacity of wembly stadium!!
      Thus the reason why my Mum is my favourite scientist is because her research is so important as with improvements in earlier detection and prevention of heart disease that come about from research like hers, we could cut these figures massively in the coming years and potentially save hundreds of lives.

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