Scientist-eotypes

Historically, scientists have earned a rather strange and somewhat negative reputation among the general public. Although "earned" may not exactly be the right word, considering the reputation is not widely supported when you actually consider the population of scientists in the world.

When a child is asked to draw a picture of a scientist, they most commonly depict aging males wearing glasses and a lab coat in a lab setting with things like beakers and flames surrounding the scientist in the drawing. Back in 2000, a classroom of 7th graders went on a field-trip to a lab called Fermilab, where they all were asked to draw pictures of their idea of a scientist before and after a visit in the lab. (The drawings and description of this little project can be found on this website.) Many of the children's initial drawings are like those described above. There were a few that even had wild hair with bald patches on top.

The 7th graders were also asked to write a short statement about their drawings, which for the most part perpetuated the same stereotypes as the drawings themselves. One girl, Amy, wrote, "He is kind of crazy, talking always quickly." Ashley wrote, "To me a scientist is bald and has hair coming out of the sides of his head...Scientists live in their own world and the rest of society puts them there." Both sets of comments perpetuate this "mad scientist" persona that lies in the minds of many members of society, but Ashley is particularly insightful because she actually pointed that out in her comment.

Society has a tendency to put all types of scientists into this category of borderline lunacy without taking into account the numerous aspects of their lives would be radically different without the amazing and innovative work of so many scientists, past and present. This concept makes the job of a scientist all the more difficult because they do not have the trust of the public, and without that, even the most groundbreaking of discoveries carry little weight in the eyes of society. For this reason, science writers have an obligation to bridge the gap between citizens' distrust and science itself. They have the unique position of being able to take scientific discoveries and make them readable and believable to people who may be suspicious or skeptical. Good science writers can absorb and understand scientists' findings and write about them in a way that has impact to society because it utilizes supportive concrete evidence in a way that is interesting and easy to comprehend.