Science is people

Science is a process and a staggeringly massive, ever-changing, expanding body of knowledge. Science, with its many fields and applications, is diverse—as are the scientists doing the work.

Science is about facts and people. Science is done by people and it is often done to serve the interests of people. We do laboratory tests, field experiments, computer simulations, etc. so that we can understand the world around us and ourselves. How can we use this information to build, start, stop, and/or save something or someone? Even the most basic research, which may have no immediate application, is pursued to increase our knowledge. If that isn’t [about] people, I don’t know what is.

Dr. Raychelle Burks does a fantastic job of rebutting the idea that girls generally aren't interested in science because it's not about people.

I love that she starts off by saying it's a process and a body of knowledge. I've been saying for years that science is a process of discovery and a body of knowledge, and that a big part of the problem with the way science is taught in our test-driven, curriculum-lead education system is that we teach the body of knowledge with very little reference to the process of discovery.

The best science teachers I had highlighted the process of discovery, either by retelling the stories of the scientists responsible for the body of knowledge or by encouraging us to experiment on our own (without giving us the answer we were supposed to arrive at).