What do children think when they draw a scientist?

  • Thread starter Math Is Hard
  • Start date
In summary: I'm not the only one.Ooh, I'm starting to like that new law. :biggrin: Of course, in reality, I'm more furry. ...and I'm not the only one.
  • #1
Math Is Hard
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
4,652
38
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4596662.stm
Professor Christopher Frayling is head of the Royal College of Art, but he's recently been conducting scientific experiments.

He's been going into primary schools and asking the pupils to draw a picture of a scientist.

Examining the sketches afterwards, he is surprised to discover that the children consistently draw images from a bygone age long before they were born: with wild hair, lab coat, staring eyes, coke-bottle glasses, a withered hand; in some cases they've even written the word "MAD" with an arrow pointing at the scientist.
:smile: Funny thing is ... this is EXACTLY how I picture about 75% of you! :biggrin:
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
Math Is Hard said:
Funny thing is ... this is EXACTLY how I picture about 75% of you! :biggrin:

wild hair - check
lab coat - nope
staring eyes - how would I know?
coke-bottle glasses - nope, no glasses
a withered hand - only after swimming for eight hours
"MAD" - probably
 
  • #3
Math Is Hard said:
Funny thing is ... this is EXACTLY how I picture about 75% of you! :biggrin:
What about the other 25%? What pictures come to mind for them?
 
  • #4
zoobyshoe said:
What about the other 25%? What pictures come to mind for them?
various creatures for the most part, I guess. Penguins, puppies, bears, sasquatches (not sure of plural form here), aliens, etc.
 
  • #5
oh, and jellyfish.
 
  • #6
Kids are stupid
 
  • #7
Pengwuino said:
Kids are stupid
Out of the mouths of babes and fools comes wisdom. Scientists are all Montgomery Burns in a lab coat with coke bottle glasses.
 
  • #8
Math Is Hard said:
various creatures for the most part, I guess. Penguins, puppies, bears, sasquatches (not sure of plural form here), aliens, etc.
Math Is Hard said:
oh, and jellyfish.
Yeah, it's kinda like the cafeteria at Universal Studios around here, isn't it?
 
  • #9
zoobyshoe said:
Yeah, it's kinda like the cafeteria at Universal Studios around here, isn't it?
That's an excellent way to describe it! :smile:
 
  • #10
Well, the part about being insane is not adequate, maybe a bit eccentric ok?
 
  • #11
That's because the only scientists most kids can identify with are either the big picture of Einstein posted on the classroom wall, or the mad scientist characters in the cartoons, which look a lot like Einstein, with coke bottle glasses, holding a flask of something green and bubbling.
 
  • #12
Just for the heck of it...I went Googling for "scientist" images:
http://images.google.com/images?q=scientist&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images

I think this gives some pretty good examples of images people associate with scientists.

I like this one because she is levitating the test tubes. Kewl!

http://www.csicop.org/scienceandmedia/literacy/scientist.gif
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #13
So that's what moonbear looks like...

http://gallery.mudpuddle.co.nz/albums/bgdm/wc_scientist_final.sized.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #14
Moonbear said:
That's because the only scientists most kids can identify with are either the big picture of Einstein posted on the classroom wall, or the mad scientist characters in the cartoons, which look a lot like Einstein, with coke bottle glasses, holding a flask of something green and bubbling.
Yeah, whereas they actually look like this:
http://home.nc.rr.com/ringosoft/scientist.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #15
zoobyshoe said:
Yeah, whereas they actually look like this:
http://home.nc.rr.com/ringosoft/scientist.jpg
[/URL]
Oh! So THAT explains all the mice!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #16
Math Is Hard said:
I like this one because she is levitating the test tubes. Kewl!
http://www.csicop.org/scienceandmedia/literacy/scientist.gif
[/URL]
Obviously a biologist. No physicist would scorn the law of gravity in such a cavalier fashion.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #17
They actually had a similar thing for mathematicians.

The result was that kids saw them as old and grumpy.
 
  • #18
haha google mathematicians and its like 9:1 black and white:color photos of mathematicians. I guess all the good ones are dead :P
 
  • #19
JasonRox said:
They actually had a similar thing for mathematicians.
The result was that kids saw them as old and grumpy.
Pengwuino said:
mathematicians and its like 9:1 black and white:color photos of mathematicians. I guess all the good ones are dead :P
My God! It's true!:eek: :eek: :eek:
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10 &hl=en&lr=&q=young+good-looking+mathematicians&btnG=Search
 
  • #20
Moonbear, I believe with Pengwuino's post about you, you would have enough to make a case against him with that new annoyance law. I will testify as a witness if you need me to :smile:
 
  • #21
Math Is Hard said:
My God! It's true!:eek: :eek: :eek:
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10 &hl=en&lr=&q=young+good-looking+mathematicians&btnG=Search
:smile: As for photos being B&W vs color, sometimes that's just the department they work for choosing B&W so the new photos match the old ones up on some wall somewhere. I always think it's funny when departments never bother to update their photos, so some professor emertitus is still shown in his 30s with a goofy bow-tie on his suit.
 
  • #22
mattmns said:
Moonbear, I believe with Pengwuino's post about you, you would have enough to make a case against him with that new annoyance law. I will testify as a witness if you need me to :smile:
Ooh, I'm starting to like that new law. :biggrin: Of course, in reality, I'm more furry. :-p
 
  • #23
Math Is Hard said:
My God! It's true!:eek: :eek: :eek:
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10 &hl=en&lr=&q=young+good-looking+mathematicians&btnG=Search
Kate Gunzinger of "It's My Turn" was good looking and she even gives a good proof of the "Snake Lemma" in the beginning of the movie.

Also, math teachers are very hot. From the highly respected "Weekly World News": http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/features/suspects/61294

"It's fun to watch these young boys get all excited," says one math teacher. "And unlike teaching them algebra, I feel like I'm 'educating' them in ways that they will really use in life."

For years it was considered bad form for teachers to flaunt their sexuality. But the case of Mary Kay Letourneau, the teacher who was arrested and imprisoned for seducing one of her 12-year-old students, changed things.

"Even though Mary went overboard by having sex with the boy, we took notice that attendance in her class was outstanding, and the kids got higher grades," says Werm.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #24
Math Is Hard said:
Oh! So THAT explains all the mice!
No this does...

Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_%28book_cover%29.jpg
 
  • #25
BobG said:
[...] From the highly respected "Weekly World News": http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/features/suspects/61294
:smile: :smile: :smile:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #26
TheStatutoryApe said:
No this does...
Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_%28book_cover%29.jpg
ah! right you are! silly me!:blushing:
 
  • #27
BobG said:
Kate Gunzinger of "It's My Turn" was good looking and she even gives a good proof of the "Snake Lemma" in the beginning of the movie.
oh, I didn't realize we could count actors and actresses who play mathematicians as actual mathematicians. In that case, David Krumholtz is one cute mathematician!
http://wwwimage.cbs.com/primetime/numb3rs/images/cast/num_bio_krumholtz.jpg
:!) :!) :!) :!) :!) :!) :!)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #28
Meow Meow Meow Meow, Meow Meow Meow Meow, so that's who makes meow mix. No wonder cats go ape over it.


He looks Gay.
 
  • #29
Moonbear said:
That's because the only scientists most kids can identify with are either the big picture of Einstein posted on the classroom wall, or the mad scientist characters in the cartoons, which look a lot like Einstein, with coke bottle glasses, holding a flask of something green and bubbling.

I disagree. I think this is what scientists are really like and the problem is that no one wants to admit it.

:biggrin:
 
  • #30
Math Is Hard said:
oh, I didn't realize we could count actors and actresses who play mathematicians as actual mathematicians. In that case, David Krumholtz is one cute mathematician!
http://wwwimage.cbs.com/primetime/numb3rs/images/cast/num_bio_krumholtz.jpg
:!) :!) :!) :!) :!) :!) :!)
Yep, he's a cutey! :!) :!) :!)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #31
Ivan Seeking said:
I disagree. I think this is what scientists are really like and the problem is that no one wants to admit it.
:biggrin:
Well, Zz can vouch for me...no coke bottle glasses (no corrective lenses of any variety actually), my hair only sticks up when the air is really dry and staticky (or after getting off a roller coaster), and I'm only tempted by blue drinks, not green bubbly ones. :biggrin: Of course I could be the extraordinarily special exception to the rule. :-p
 
  • #32
zoobyshoe said:
Yeah, whereas they actually look like this:
http://home.nc.rr.com/ringosoft/scientist.jpg
[/URL]

Wooooo hot stuff :!) :!) :!) :!)

That offers still up there moonbear :wink:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #33
Math Is Hard said:
oh, I didn't realize we could count actors and actresses who play mathematicians as actual mathematicians. In that case, David Krumholtz is one cute mathematician!
http://wwwimage.cbs.com/primetime/numb3rs/images/cast/num_bio_krumholtz.jpg
:!) :!) :!) :!) :!) :!) :!)
Really? I don't find him very cute at all, actually. Though, one of my best friends is married to a mathematician (well, she's a mathematician too...sort of...she got her master's, but chose to be a stay-at-home mom) and he's definitely good looking...I suspect the glasses were getting close to being coke-bottle thickness prior to the Lasix though. :rolleyes:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #34
cyrusabdollahi said:
He looks Gay.

According to http://www.tv.com/david-krumholtz/person/1240/biography.html" :

He is currently dating actress Vaness Britting.

Sorry, Cyrus :frown:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #35
Butt Pirate. Don't believe what you read.
 

Similar threads

'Hole in sky' amazes scientists
Replies
2
Views
4K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top