The Inescapability of Science

Science is everywhere and it permeates every facet of our existence. If you doubt that, consider this; you likely have in your pocket at this very moment a tiny electronic device you can use to communicate via radio signals with a robot in space that will instantaneously interface with a worldwide network of highly advanced thinking machines and give you driving directions. That robot in outer space has to be calibrated by a highly-trained team of military engineers on a regular basis to compensate for inaccuracies introduced by the time dilation effects originally predicted by Albert Einstein due to the speed at which they travel in relation to the earth.

Think about that for a moment! Your everyday use of Google Maps on your smartphone to get directions to a restaurant across town is fundamentally dependent on a crack team of satellite jockeys stationed outside of Colorado Springs. Their primary task is to calculate the difference in the passage of time between that experienced on the ground and from the vantage point of the satellite. This difference in the passage of time is induced by the satellite's extraordinary speeds and the warp in space that is the gravitational field of the earth. Time is literally slowing down on the satellite, and that difference has to be adjusted for to keep triangulation errors from creeping into the measurements displayed on your phone.

From relativistic physics governing our GPS receivers to evolutionary biology accounting for the antibiotics you take for an infection, every single facet of the modern world is infused with science. There is no escaping it, and no surviving without it. In spite of the stupefying degree to which it governs our daily lives, scientific literacy is at a staggering low point. Between zealous religious leaders, oil company executives, and even advertizing agencies for yogurt companies, there are billions of dollars invested in keeping a true understanding of science out of the minds of the common people. Worse than that, these campaigns have the added effect of sowing distrust of the scientific community by making science appear to be the exclusive domain of a small elite.

As an amateur astronomer, I have been actively involved in science outreach projects for close to a decade. In that time I have learned a sobering fact; there is abundant enthusiasm and interest in science among the general public, but there is a deep gulf between that enthusiasm and an understanding of what science is on a fundamental level. The scientific method is barely taught in our nation's classrooms, usually being presented in the most fleeting passing if mentioned at all. As a result, the vast majority of Americans don't realize that science is a process and a technique for sorting out objective fact from assumption and fallacy. Instead, the common perception of science is one of an obtuse collection of arbitrarily decided-upon facts and figures collected in dusty volumes somewhere. Perhaps the worst aspect of this misconception of science is that it makes people think they can pick and choose which aspects of science are correct based on their individual desires and prejudices. Nothing could be further from the truth! All facets of science are deeply interwoven, and to throw out one scientific discipline due to your own prejudices means throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

As Neil Degrasse Tyson famously put it, the great thing about science is that it's true whether you believe in it or not. There is no greater testament to this fundamental principle than the fact that our smartphones, antibiotics, eyeglasses and car stereos continue to work regardless of how many people choose to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the findings of the scientific method. Our modern world continues to function, in spite of the vocal protests of an ignorant majority.

The saddest thing is that an understanding of the principles of science is not outside the grasp of common folk. It is, in fact, surprisingly simple given that you approach it with an understanding of the process of the scientific method. What most people don't realize is that the bulk of the grunt work of science, the painstaking process of data gathering, is not carried out by a small elite. Rather, the vast majority of scientists toiling in the trenches of experiment and observation to further our understanding of the world are ordinary people without a formal education who have devoted their free time to science as a labor of love. From amateur astronomers monitoring variable star light curves and asteroid orbits in their makeshift backyard observatories, to the armies of volunteers who allow paleontology and archaeology excavations to proceed on minimal funding, these "Citizen Scientists" are the backbone upon which scientific advances are propelled forward.

It may be easy to dismiss Citizen Scientists as mere hobbyists, but that is a gross underestimation of them. Indeed, due to the small (and perpetually shrinking) amounts of funding allocated to pure research, a vast number of worthy projects would stall in their tracks without the devoted work of these passionate individuals. Make no mistake about it; citizen scientists are SCIENTISTS in the purest sense of the word. Most "professional" scientists look on citizen scientists as colleagues as opposed to inferiors due to the simple fact that the scientific endeavor would come to a standstill without them.

In my science outreach efforts, I try to make a point to show people that the universe is not only knowable, but that an understanding of science on a fundamental level is accessible to everybody. All it takes is enthusiasm, dedication and discipline.

We're about to take a journey through the trenches of the scientific community, understanding the profound way every average citizen can further our understanding of the universe in which we live. Along the way you may find your own calling on the path to being a Citizen Scientist.

* * *

About the Author:

Tristan J. Schwartz is a freelance astronomy writer and science communicator living in Colorado Springs, CO, where he has been actively involved with the Colorado Springs Astronomical Society for four years. Until 2010, Tristan lived in Mesa, AZ where he performed citizen science for a number of years through his work for the Arizona Museum of Natural History. At the museum he participated in Paleontological lab and field work as well as exhibit design and installation. In 2008 he started an astronomy outreach program at the museum which continues to this day. He was one of the chief designers of the "Origins" exhibit which opened in 2010. Origins presents a timeline of the history of the universe which ties astronomical objects to geological periods on earth through the concept of "lookback time," demonstrating how astronomy is a form of time travel. 

Tristan is a longtime contributor to Cloudy Nights (www.cloudynights.com). Additionally, his first published work is "The Case for Structured Observing" appearing in the July 2014 issue of Sky & Telescope magazine. In the coming months, Tristan will be co-hosting the "Super Science Mashup" live event and podcast in conjunction with the Pikes Peak Skeptics Society,