scientists and technologists as a priestly class, immune from temptations of fame, profit or power.
In my own field I noticed this scientific snobbery. People who worked on computers were called Computer Scientists. People who worked on dirt were called Soil Scientists, and so forth.
I was a forester, with a 'specialty' in silviculture, called a silviculturist. A silviculturist has a working knowledge in all biological sciences, physics, engineering, botany, ecology, politics, soils, astronomy, chemistry, entomology, genetics, business, economic analysis, computer science, mathematics, English composition, psychology, journalism, and probably almost any science that you could mention, including expert knowledge in the art and science of silviculture.
Every one of those sciences that I mentioned had a narrow focus, but mine was broad.
My favorite part was that we had to go out in the rain, get our knees dirty, chop wood, and see spiders building nests in the darkness below the tree canopy. We also got to work with humble people who earn their living from the land.
I'll never call myself anything but a silviculturist, and I'm proud of it. |
