Punching above our weight.

For at least 350 years Britain has been at the forefront of scientific discovery since the birth of the Enlightenment. What is the scientific method the we have given to world? Basically its having a hypothesis and then testing that robustly to discovery whether the hypothesis is true and repeatable or not. The results are then published in a respected scientific journal like Nature after it has first been peer reviewed. This process has led scientists and others to make many remarkable discoveries. Both the Royal Society and Royal Institution have been central in this ongoing process from 1660 to the present day. Without this methodology we would not have had the likes of Isaac Newton, Joseph Banks, Charles Darwin, Crick and Watson et al. Putting all this into context was professor Brian Cox in an enlightening and inspiring programme on BBC2 Science Britannica. What are the character traits that are necessary for a good scientist? An all-consuming curiosity of mind, an attention to detail, value of depth of knowledge over breadth, deep concentration, being obsessional. Not an easy combination, but essential for the discovery of new frontiers of knowledge. All should watch this programme and be inspired by science.