What do children think when they draw a scientist?

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Professor Christopher Frayling's research into children's perceptions of scientists reveals that young students consistently depict scientists in stereotypical, outdated ways, often resembling "mad scientists" with wild hair, lab coats, and exaggerated features. This reflects a limited understanding of modern scientists, who are often more relatable and diverse than these caricatures suggest. The discussion highlights how children's images are influenced by cultural representations, such as Einstein and cartoon characters, leading to misconceptions about the profession. Participants in the thread humorously engage with these stereotypes, sharing personal anecdotes and contrasting them with the reality of contemporary scientists, who may not fit the traditional mold. The conversation also touches on the broader implications of these perceptions for science education and public understanding of the scientific community.
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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:
 
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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
 
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?
 
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.
 
oh, and jellyfish.
 
Kids are stupid
 
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.
 
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?
 
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
 
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  • #13
So that's what moonbear looks like...

http://gallery.mudpuddle.co.nz/albums/bgdm/wc_scientist_final.sized.jpg
 
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  • #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
 
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  • #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!
 
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  • #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.
 
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  • #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.
 
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  • #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:
 
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  • #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
:!) :!) :!) :!) :!) :!) :!)
 
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  • #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! :!) :!) :!)
 
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  • #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:
 
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  • #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:
 
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  • #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:
 
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  • #35
Butt Pirate. Don't believe what you read.
 
  • #36
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  • #37
My favorite heartthrob scientist - David Deutsch. I even have an e-mail from him. :!) :!) :!) :!) :!) I think he is SO CUTE! And SO SMART! :!) :!) :!)

deutsch2005eq.gif


deutsch2am.jpg
 
  • #38
>>>>>>>>>>Silence<<<<<<<<<<<<< woooshhhhhh wind blows by. Thats one sexy comb over he's got going for him.
 
  • #39
Who is the chick in the picture evo :confused:
 
  • #40
:bugeye: :eek: Remembers what mom said, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." :bugeye: As they say, there's someone for everyone.
 
  • #41
Evo said:
My favorite heartthrob scientist - David Deutsch. I even have an e-mail from him. :!) :!) :!) :!) :!) I think he is SO CUTE! And SO SMART! :!) :!) :!)
Ahh! So that's your type! Now I know what to look for for you. He's definitely "geeky-cute".

But then there's Alex.

Alex, Alex, Alex. *sigh*

filippenko_lecturing.jpg

Alex Filippenko, University of California at Berkeley
Ph.D., California Institute of Technology

I've seen him lecture a couple of times and he's incredible. Once we were both standing at the back of the auditorium and he smiled at me. :!)
*sigh*
 
  • #42
David Deutsch - the brains behind Quantum Computing. You don't recognize him?

Oh, and did I mention that this GOD of Quantum Computing took the time to send me a nice e-mail?

Born in Haifa, Israel, David Deutsch was educated at Cambridge and Oxford universities. After several years at the University of Texas at Austin, he returned to Oxford, where he now lives and works. Since 1999, he has been a non-stipendiary Visiting Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, where he is a member of the Centre for Quantum Computation at the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford University.

@@@@@@@@@@

Edge of Computation Science Prize 2005
In 2005 I received the Edge of Computation Science Prize for “individual achievement in scientific work that embodies extensions of the computational idea — the design space created by Turing. It is a 21st Century prize in recognition of cutting edge work — theoretical, experimental, or both — performed, published, or newly applied within the past ten years”.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

International Award on Quantum Communication 2002
In 2002 I received the Fourth International Award on Quantum Communication for “theoretical work on Quantum Computer Science”.

This was presented at the Sixth International Conference on Quantum Communication, Measurement and Computing. A transcript of the talk Physics, Philosophy and Quantum Technology (PDF file here) that I gave at that conference has been published in Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Quantum Communication, Measurement and Computing, Shapiro, J.H. and Hirota, O., Eds. (Rinton Press, Princeton, NJ. 2003).


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Visiting Professorship at the University of Oxford
Since 1999 I have been a non-stipendiary Visiting Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, where I am a member of the Centre for Quantum Computation at the Clarendon Laboratory.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Paul Dirac Prize and Medal 1998
In 1998 I was awarded the Institute of Physics' Paul Dirac Prize and Medal. This is the Premier Award for theoretical physics within the gift of the Council of the Institute of Physics. It is made for “outstanding contributions to theoretical (including mathematical and computational) physics”.


The citation reads:

“For pioneering work in quantum computation leading to the concept of a quantum computer and for contributing to the understanding of how such devices might be constructed from quantum logic gates in quantum networks.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Distinguished Fellowship of the British Computer Society
In 1998 I was awarded a Distinguished Fellowship of the British Computer Society. This is awarded “to members of the computing profession who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of computing”. Normally there can be no more than 15 such Fellows at anyone time.

Recipient of the 2005
$100,000 Edge of Computation Science Prize

"For individual scientific work, extending the computational idea, performed, published, or newly applied within the past ten years"

DAVID DEUTSCH'S research in quantum physics has been influential and highly acclaimed. His papers on quantum computation laid the foundations for that field, breaking new ground in the theory of computation as well as physics, and have triggered an explosion of research efforts worldwide.

His 1995 paper, "Conditional quantum dynamics and logic gates" (with A. Barenco, A. Ekert and R. Jozsa) was an important step in clarifying what sort of physical processes would be needed to implement quantum computation in the laboratory, and what sort of things the experimentalists should
 
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  • #43
Or perhaps you prefer Joao Magueijo for VSL.

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/3015/10000158939ic.jpg
 
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  • #44
Evo said:
Or perhaps you prefer Joao Magueijo for VSL.
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/3015/10000158939ic.jpg
[/URL]
ooOOooh! We really need to get back to work on our Men of Physics calendar! What ever happened to that? Think of what a great service we would be doing for science by combatting those stereotypes mentioned in my OP. Maybe we could even get a grant to produce it!:smile:
 
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  • #45
Just when I thought threads couldn't get any stupider...


*sigh*
 
  • #46
Math Is Hard said:
ooOOooh! We really need to get back to work on our Men of Physics calendar! What ever happened to that? Think of what a great service we would be doing for science by combatting those stereotypes mentioned in my OP. Maybe we could even get a grant to produce it!:smile:
Oh, yes, we need to get started on that again. :!) :!) :!)
 
  • #47
I post this post to also tell you that I am sooo excited and happier when I could say what I should say..You might not believe :-p :-p :-p
 
  • #48
Evo said:
Oh, yes, we need to get started on that again. :!) :!) :!)


Do they have to be PhDs? Can undergrads pose? :biggrin:
 
  • #49
franznietzsche said:
Do they have to be PhDs? Can undergrads pose? :biggrin:
Definitely undergrads.:!) :!) :!)
 
  • #50
Evo said:
Or perhaps you prefer Joao Magueijo for VSL.
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/3015/10000158939ic.jpg
[/URL]
Now that's getting a bit closer to my type. I think I go for the guys who just dress geeky...the engineer types. :biggrin: (Let's see who notices that one.)
 
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