[licenseartistic] September 2008 - A Natural Beauty
Title: "A Natural Beauty"
Prompt: "I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale." ~Marie Curie.
Character: The Tenth Doctor
Warnings: None
Pairings: None
Fandom: Doctor Who
Word count: 475
Rating: G
Disclaimer: The Doctor and all other mentioned characters are property of the BBC, and are used without permission.
Ah, Marie. What an absolutely terrific and singular individual.
Probably doesn't surprise a soul that I'm mad about scientists, does it? I mean, here's me, someone all but obsessed with learning and experiencing and finding the truth behind the universe, so of course other beings with similar thirsts for knowledge would be among my very favorite kinds of people!
Been dropping in on the most famous minds of all history ever since I started my little adventures. Sometimes, I want to be there right at the moment they do the Big Thing or get the Brilliant Idea, you know? I saw Ben Franklin fly his kite and Cousteau launch the Calypso and kicked a bit of grit out of the way when you lot finally get some probes out to the Jovian moons. Other times, I like to get there before all that, and find out what they were like, and what made them tick just the right way to get there.
Fascinating stuff. Better than cable.
In fact, I spent a couple of days with Marie and Pierre, before they were "Marie and Pierre", if you know what I mean. Introduced them, in fact. Yep, that was me. Oh, I'm sure things would've gotten along just fine without me being there-- history does tend to like playing out in certain ways, even though it's by no means immutable-- but I gave a bit of a nudge, you see. They were both studying magnetics, and well, I just got 'em close enough and physics chemistry took care of the rest!
In any case, Marie was right. It's always puzzled me that so many people think of science as something cold and distant and impersonal. Why d'you think these people do what they do? For lack of a football match to watch or a novel to read? No, it's because they need to, because they're inspired by discovering and learning and figuring out. It's because they can see the magnificent beauty of an exploding star or a breaking chrysalis or even a mathematical equation, and they cannot help but be moved by it.
The universe is vast-- infinite-- and there is no end to the beauty contained within that vastness. Scientists are creatures who cannot help but want to touch that beauty and make it a part of them, and they do so by understanding, or at least seeking to understand what it is they're observing. There is no greater joy for a scientist than the answer to a question, unless it's an answer that raises an even more fascinating question.
Do me a favour and the next time you start thinking of scientists as a chilly, aloof, unfeeling sort of lot, you remember what I said. They're seekers of beauty, and of knowledge, and to them it's the same thing. I'm a scientist, remember. Doctor.
Prompt: "I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale." ~Marie Curie.
Character: The Tenth Doctor
Warnings: None
Pairings: None
Fandom: Doctor Who
Word count: 475
Rating: G
Disclaimer: The Doctor and all other mentioned characters are property of the BBC, and are used without permission.
Ah, Marie. What an absolutely terrific and singular individual.
Probably doesn't surprise a soul that I'm mad about scientists, does it? I mean, here's me, someone all but obsessed with learning and experiencing and finding the truth behind the universe, so of course other beings with similar thirsts for knowledge would be among my very favorite kinds of people!
Been dropping in on the most famous minds of all history ever since I started my little adventures. Sometimes, I want to be there right at the moment they do the Big Thing or get the Brilliant Idea, you know? I saw Ben Franklin fly his kite and Cousteau launch the Calypso and kicked a bit of grit out of the way when you lot finally get some probes out to the Jovian moons. Other times, I like to get there before all that, and find out what they were like, and what made them tick just the right way to get there.
Fascinating stuff. Better than cable.
In fact, I spent a couple of days with Marie and Pierre, before they were "Marie and Pierre", if you know what I mean. Introduced them, in fact. Yep, that was me. Oh, I'm sure things would've gotten along just fine without me being there-- history does tend to like playing out in certain ways, even though it's by no means immutable-- but I gave a bit of a nudge, you see. They were both studying magnetics, and well, I just got 'em close enough and physics chemistry took care of the rest!
In any case, Marie was right. It's always puzzled me that so many people think of science as something cold and distant and impersonal. Why d'you think these people do what they do? For lack of a football match to watch or a novel to read? No, it's because they need to, because they're inspired by discovering and learning and figuring out. It's because they can see the magnificent beauty of an exploding star or a breaking chrysalis or even a mathematical equation, and they cannot help but be moved by it.
The universe is vast-- infinite-- and there is no end to the beauty contained within that vastness. Scientists are creatures who cannot help but want to touch that beauty and make it a part of them, and they do so by understanding, or at least seeking to understand what it is they're observing. There is no greater joy for a scientist than the answer to a question, unless it's an answer that raises an even more fascinating question.
Do me a favour and the next time you start thinking of scientists as a chilly, aloof, unfeeling sort of lot, you remember what I said. They're seekers of beauty, and of knowledge, and to them it's the same thing. I'm a scientist, remember. Doctor.