LET’S NOT CROWD ME, I’M ONLY
A
SCIENTIST
Eric Yisroel Brumer, Chemistry grad and son of Prof. Paul Brumer, reflects on the often unappreciated but crucial role scientists play in world affairs. What he says hits close to home. Go ahead, ask me what I do. I fight terrorism. I save lives after hurricanes. After Katrina and Sept. 11, everyone is fascinated by my work. At dinner parties, at coffee shops, on work and personal calls, I am constantly assailed by inquiries about my work, my opinions, my outlook for the future. In 2004, I left academia to become a fellow at the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate. I joined a group of phenomenally competent people dedicated to the research and development of advanced technologies to save lives and property in the aftermath of a natural or man-made disaster. I’ve been working in Homeland Defense ever since. And I’m a social superstar. It wasn’t always this way. Just a few years ago, I was a graduate student in chemical physics, working on obscure problems involving words like quantum mechanics, supercooled liquids, and statistical thermodynamics. No one ever inquired how my work was progressing; no one wanted to know what my feelings about the future were. The best I could hope for was that my work didn’t come up as a topic of conversation, with conversations centering on politics or sports. And if my work did come up, I’d usually gloss over the subject with “It’s really not that interesting”, or “It’s too hard to explain”. And therein lies the problem. The work I was doing was fascinating, and I could have explained it with ease. But no one cares. No one wants to hear about boring old scientists doing boring old science. People only want to hear about how there’s now a cell phone that plays iTunes, or how interoperable communications will facilitate emergency responses. But think about all the science that goes into making a cell phone work. Someone had to figure out the boring old equations of electromagnetic waves and circuitry, the boring old theory of bits and bytes, and a myriad other boring scientific details. Every 58 • DISTILLATIONS 2006
day, the lives of every American (and likely every human) are bettered in a nearly infinite number of ways as a direct result of the toils and dedication of innumerable scientists. Scientists who could probably have made more money, worked fewer hours, and lead more comfortable lives had they chosen to apply their skills elsewhere. In fact, nearly every scientist I know is consciously aware that they would garner greater wages and prestige if they changed fields. And nearly every scientist I know does what they do for the pure and noble love of discovery (although there are, of course, exceptions). I find it odd that a society so dependent on science is so uninterested in it. Our military dominance, our economic strength, and our high quality of life are all outgrowths of our scientific achievements. And, as we search for renewable energy sources to avoid gas crises, advanced medical technologies to increase our length and quality of life, and, of course, methods of dealing with terrorists and the next Katrina, this isn’t likely to change. Here’s an enlightening exercise: sit down with a pen and a paper and see how many actors and actresses you can name that have won an Academy Award. Now name scientists that