It is not necessary to be a great scientist to make a difference, but there are things we can learn from the best minds in this world. Great scientists like Stephen Hawking always want to know more. They are never satisfied with a simple answer and are always looking for new questions. The Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was so curious that he used a microscope and a telescope in order to be able to take a closer look at things both great and small. By asking why, how and what if, curious minds find new ideas and solutions.
If knowledge is power, as Sir Francis Bacon wrote in 1597, then perhaps creativity can be described as the ability to use that power. Scientists must be creative and use their imagination all the time. When Zhang Heng, the Chinese astronomer and geographer, wanted to draw a map of the heavens, he was not satisfied with a simple paper map. Instead, he built a model that could move in order to show how the position of the stars changed from season to season.
We must believe in what we do, even when others do not. Both Galileo and Zhang Heng found it difficult to make people believe that their theories were correct. People laughed at Zhang Heng when he first introduced his seismograph, and it was only later that the world recognised his greatness. Galileo's observations show that Copernicus, another great astronomer, was right and that the earth moves around the sun, not the other way around. At that time, the church said that the earth was the centre of the universe and Galileo was not allowed to publish or discuss his observations. Today, both Zhang Heng and Galileo are known as scientific pioneers who helped us better understand the world.
Perhaps the most important thing if we want to make a difference is to find something that we like to do and that we are good at. Knowing who we are means knowing how we think and what we like to do. Everyone has his or her special skills and interests, and only by discovering what we do best can we hope to reach our goals and truly make a difference.
|