Very true that the hard sciences are the last ones to be accessible to the general public. But that doesn't stop an interested amateur from reading scientific papers and making connections/coming up with interesting theories. At least if they can't do it on their own, there's potential for interaction.
In a book I was reading a book on Tsavo lions (either this or this ... I read both) a few months ago, there was an interesting bit about a museum curator, whose training was in art rather than science, who had noticed (possibly because his art background made him more minutely aware of perspective and proportion) that the head-body proportions of the specimens from that region appeared to be different from those of lions in other areas and could possibly be considered a unique subspecies. He didn't get any recognition or encouragement from the scientific community, but did eventually find a professional zoologist who was interested. With the stamp of professional "respectability", they managed to get some funding and have been accumulating measurements of Tsavo lions for comparison purposes. There may be nothing to the theory itself, but it's encouraging to know that it's possible for a truly determined amateur can, eventually, find a way to access more expensive research.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: GO HOBBYISTS!!!!!!!
Date: 2004-12-03 01:45 am (UTC)In a book I was reading a book on Tsavo lions (either this or this ... I read both) a few months ago, there was an interesting bit about a museum curator, whose training was in art rather than science, who had noticed (possibly because his art background made him more minutely aware of perspective and proportion) that the head-body proportions of the specimens from that region appeared to be different from those of lions in other areas and could possibly be considered a unique subspecies. He didn't get any recognition or encouragement from the scientific community, but did eventually find a professional zoologist who was interested. With the stamp of professional "respectability", they managed to get some funding and have been accumulating measurements of Tsavo lions for comparison purposes. There may be nothing to the theory itself, but it's encouraging to know that it's possible for a truly determined amateur can, eventually, find a way to access more expensive research.