Any science teachers here?

[Terracata]

I have recently discovered a love for science. I had a horrible science teacher at school who bullied me horribly and I checked out. I want to learn, and start from the beginning, but I have no idea where to start. Through my reading I've learnt that it's no good just learning one. It's purely for my own enjoyment but I'm feeling overwhelmed. Does anyone have any tips?

That’s brilliant! I love hearing about people discovering a new interest and overcoming past experiences.

I’m not a science teacher but I am a scientist.

Firstly, what kind of science interests you? Is it physics and engineering type - do you want to take everything to pieces to see how it works?

Or is it more biological? You want to know how the body works, why drugs work, what makes plants and trees like they are?

I’m the second kind. I did a very traditional route of school and university in science, but there’s no reason you can’t satisfy your own curiosity through books and the internet (just make sure it’s reliable internet sources like pubmed). There’s loads of free online journals these days. It might all seem too technical to start with but if you find a topic particularly interesting you’ll soon work it out.

Can you get hold of some science GCSE revision books or something like that? (As you say you need to go back to the beginning). They’re usually available secondhand on in the library and could give you good basic overviews of chemistry, physics and biology.

Good luck! Science is fascinating, a whole world of interesting things is at your fingertips if you get into it.

I'm also a scientist in a very niche field that's related to industrial safety and disaster planning. I get to see and do all sorts of fascinating things.

I recommend visiting museums (all the big national museums like the science museum or the natural history museum but any kind really, local museums can be really interesting, recently I went to a museum in York where there was a display about Mary Anning who found and researched fossils in the 19th century while overcoming prejudice and disrespect because she was a woman) and you tube. Just explore and read/watch what you're interested in.

If you like chemistry, look at:

https://www.youtube.com/@periodicvideos

As for whether it's any good learning just one branch of science, well that depends. I have a degree in chemistry and professional qualifications in a subject that's chemistry/physics based, but I have little or know understanding of biology and it's not really a problem.

What is important is having a good understanding of maths and especially statistics/probability.

This is well illustrated by the BBC podcast More or Less, which explains that many statistics quoted in the news or on social media are misleading or misinterpreted and what it takes for statistics to be reliable.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p02nrss1

One of the contributor has a youtube channel that mixes comedy and maths (yes this is possible)

https://www.youtube.com/@standupmaths

I've also saved this on my youtube, but can't remember watching any of the videos

https://www.youtube.com/@PlainlyDifficult

Ooh yes More or Less is great and on BBC sounds you can also get Inside Science which I find quite interesting. Also The Life Scientific is a radio 4 program where they interview scientists about their careers and it's great to hear their enthusiasm for their research topics!

I would suggest, especially on the internet, think carefully about the sources and whether they are reliable. There's a lot of pseudo science around - so, I'd put antivax in that category, for example - so I always like to think 'who wrote this webpage? What is their experience or qualifications? Do they have (enough) data? Do they have an agenda they're trying to persuade me towards or something they're trying to sell?'

I am a retired physicist - always had an interest in how things worked - as a little girl I used to take things apart (rarely managed to put them back together!), had a chemistry set etc. I had some pretty dreadful science teachers at school but it all started to make sense when I realised the connections between the seemingly useless maths I was learning and the way the world worked.
I dropped biology - too much memory work - and chemistry - too messy - and stuck to physics and maths, though I admit I am pretty useless at statistics.

I got a degree in Space Physics - so I could be termed a rocket scientist by training 😁but ended up working for the Atomic Energy Authority on nuclear power station design.

To pique your interest with some amusing accounts of subjects in physics and maths I'd recommend:

Flatland by Edwin Abbott (about living - or not - in a 3 dimensional world)

Mr Tompkins in Wonderland by George Gamow (understanding the effects of relativity - there are other Mr Tompkins stories too)

Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh

Randall Munroe's books, such as "What if?". They are really funny and well researched. He also started a web comic called xkcd.com, but you need some scientific knowledge to understand some of the jokes.

QED - The Strange Theory of Light and Matter by Richard P Feynman This is a bit out of date but a great introduction anyhow to quantum electrodynamics.

Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension by Matt Parker is a great book, but rather maths heavy.

As well as the suggestions above there's also "The Sky at Night" on the BBC of course. Great programme. If you are interested in astronomy many astronomy groups have open evenings - for instance Wessex Astronomy group in my area run them at a nearby country park once a month.