xth at mace.cc.purdue.edu (Beth Singer) writes:
> Well in my house when I was growing up, we were always watching science
> fiction movies, like Fantastic Voyage, and 2001; and shows like Nova, d
> Cosmos, and
> National Geographic. Books were always available, and magazines. We had a
> whole series of Time Life books, encyclopedias. (stuff deleted)
Growing up at my house was very similar. Watching science and nature shows
was a family affair. My brother and I were also science-fiction nuts,
practically reading the entire S-F section of the local public library.
My parents were encouraging, but not particularly science-minded. There
is only a 2 year age difference between my brother and myself, so we
had many of the same classes and teachers in school, and we were generally
described as acting eerily alike. However, while I am working on my M.S.
in Ecology, my brother never pursued science as a profession, and the idea
of communing with Nature makes his skin crawl.
So, I would have to say that, while outside influences are important,
personal motivation/desire is a big (and gender-independent) factor.
Does that make sense?
Michelle M. Fink
