In article ,
drawnai{at}hotmail.com says...
> http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/profile/story/0,11109,1407651,00.html
>
> " "Only last week I got a letter from a schoolgirl saying, 'girls like
> me need women like you'," she says."
>
> I don't recall writing letters to Richard Feynman in my youth, because
> neither I nor any of the scientists I've ever known, needed anyone to
> follow my dream.
>
>
Yeah,  I didn't bother to write letters either.  I had a father who
was a professor of physical sciences for general inspiration, and
a Sea Explorer leader who was a professor of Oceanography to
help me decide what kind of science I wanted to study.   I suppose
that if you live far out in the boonies, it can be hard to
find local inspiration and a letter might be all you have.  But
in almost any city with a college or university,  young people
can find a scientist to talk to about any time they want.  They
do let them out of the lab occasionally!  ;-)  Once out of the
lab they are parents, scout leaders, role models and mentors.
Heck, some of them even get tired of the lab and take up
other professions.   My son's 4th grade teacher had a PhD in
Biology--as did his cub scout leader.

Mark Borgerson



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