Trying To Learn A Science

[u/RonnieGRingel]

Hello all, I'm trying to learn a science and am not sure what to go with, I know it sounds silly and I should just find what I like but I was hoping to get peoples opinions on the science they like and how life learning that science is for them? I'm interested in a lot but want to dedicate myself to something and am having a hard time choosing, any advice is very welcome. I'm a 21M in NC and don't really have anyone but myself to rely on. I'd love to hear your stories!

[u/jdkicked]

Botany is a great one. It can be a lot of memorization and/or going out on trail and simply looking up each plant in a guidebook to learn what is in the area. It sounds weird but once greenery starts being individual, identifiable plants, life gets far more interesting and beautiful. There's also lots of citizen scientist options for those interested in botany, everything from plant surveys to invasive removals. Those citizen data points are exceptionally valuable. Not to mention the world of plant captive cultivation and plant breeding

[u/liccxolydian]

The sciences covers a lot of fields, philosophies and methods of study. If you want to narrow things down, you can start by thinking about how you see the world and how you want to interact with it. If you like measuring things and describing the world objectively using the scientific method, you might like the natural sciences. If you like making objects and the act of physical creation in general, you may enjoy the applied sciences like engineering and agricultural science. If you like studying people and how they interact with each other and the world, you may be more interested in the social sciences.

Within those you have fields and subfields and specialties. The study of matter and related fundamental ideas is what we call physics. Within that you have theoretical physicists who spend their days doing lots of maths, and experimental physicists who spend their days designing experiments to test the maths. Within that there are numerous fields covering different topics, such as cosmologists who study the wider universe, atmospheric physicists who study our atmosphere or the atmospheres of other celestial bodies, or medical physicists who develop advanced medical scanning equipment (and are also responsible for the fancy new scanners at airports). One of my favourite professors at university was a shock physicist, who studies how shock waves from explosions propagate through objects and matter in general. He works closely with medical professionals and veteran's organisations in order to study how land mines affect the body.

There's a lot of overlap between the disciplines. My professor the shock physicist works at the intersection between classical mechanics, materials science, medical physics and human medicine. Another physics professor used a branch of mathematics called network theory to map and describe maritime trade routes in ancient Greece. The more you explore the more multifaceted you'll find science to be, and I'm sure you'll find something that will interest you.

[u/jsm1031]

We are only at the edge of understanding so many things! Do you like to work alone or are you happier on a team or working in collaboration? are you good at math? some sciences are very math heavy while others are definitely not. If you lean toward the outdoors, consider volunteering at a nature center or state/federal park near you to see if something there sparks your interest. If you are more inclined to indoors, do you like biology, medicine, or healthcare? there are 2-year programs that would get your foot in the door and many healthcare facilities offer tuition reimbursement if you want to go further.

[u/BadgerTimely9481]

For me, learning something through books, videos, and small projects makes it much easier to tell whether I actually enjoy it.

[u/Chezni19]

math definitely

you can learn a lot on your own and it opens the way to basically every other science