Today, for Concept Crucible’s 150th post, I have something special. I have become a we. Dan Timmins, a long time friend who you may have seen in such projects as the Educated Imagination and Headshots from the Heart, is joining the blog. Together we’re going to take it to new levels of awesome and less levels of pedantry. Everybody welcome Dan for his first post.
I’ve always said that my one regret in life is that I will never be a little old lady. In truth this is just one of those things that I say when i need something to say. In reality if I were to go back in time and do anything differently I would go back and stop myself from starting that mouse-brain fight in grade 10 science. It turns out that mouse-brain fighting, aside from being about as gross as it sounds, is not very conducive to learning of high school science. Needless to say, as a teenager I didn’t take science very seriously. I was busy being artistic and creative and really, really emo, though back then the kids called it “goth”. I didn’t have time for boring stuffy things like Bunsen burners and periodic tables. Which is kind of funny because as a kid I once wrote an essay on the volcanoes of Io, had a rock collection, wrote a science fiction novel, learned the northern constellations by heart, and had an acute case of Dinosauria. Somewhere along the line I had forgotten about the things that science has to offer and the wonder and excitement that scientific ideas bring into my life. Now as an adult I have rediscovered that wonder and excitement and spend a lot of time reading popular science books and articles and trawling the internet for fascinating ideas to share with anyone who will listen to me. I have more books on rocks (really good ones too) than any non-geologist ought to have and I am a strong believer in the popularization of science and scientific discovery.
As my 12th grade English teacher used to famously proclaim, So what?
So this. My name is Dan and my friend Jim here at Concept Crucible has asked me to join him here. To start with I hope to do a couple of posts a week, probably Monday and Friday or something like that and in these posts I want to talk about the awesomeness of science and scientific ideas on the internet. I want to look at some of the over the top future thinking science like how ESA (the European Space Agency) wants to build moon bases with 3D printers, to the more mundane but no less amazing 13 year old boy in Africa who came up with an innovative solution for keeping lions away from his family’s cattle. I will also probably want to talk about some related ideas like about why kids should learn things like coding and why video games won’t rot your brain. I’m also up for doing a roundup style post where i give links and short summaries or whythisiscoolaries to the articles that have interested me in a given week, or month, or fortnight. I might also do features on some of my favourite figures in science especially those who strive to bring scientific discovery to everyday folks. We’ll see what Jim lets me get away with.
I suppose I will finish up this introductory post by telling you a little about myself and then we’ll leave it at that. My name is Dan Timmins, I’m 31, and although I have written a blog post here and there before this isn’t something I have ever tried to do very seriously. I’m interested in writing for Concept Crucible because I would like more practice writing, I like to share cool stuff I’ve learned, and because while I was under the influence of tea Jim asked me to. I recently quit my job of 7 years because it was turning me into a dehumanized robot and I am actually looking forward a new project that could help me figure out what I want to do next. At my age I’m not sure I have the drive to put in 10 years of school to become a scientist but that in no way diminishes the interest I hold in scientific discovery. This first post is now a week overdue and I’m nervous as heck, but my FILDI is strong today so here goes.
D.
