• Question: Which do you prefer biology, physics or chemistry?

    Asked by mais dando to Claire, Franco, Koi, Linda, Mark on 15 Jun 2016. This question was also asked by maddieT.
    • Photo: Franco Falcone

      Franco Falcone answered on 15 Jun 2016:

      @mais dando. I prefer Biology, but as a Biologist I am a bit biased . Truth is that these are not really separate disciplines – think of Biochemistry, Biophysics or Physical Chemistry. They are all equally important and part of our lives, from vaccine development to building aeroplanes, these sciences influence every aspect of our lives. So I guess it’s down to personal choices and preferences, perhaps?

    • Photo: Arporn Wangwiwatsin

      Arporn Wangwiwatsin answered on 15 Jun 2016:

      Hi mais dando,
      I’d say I prefer biology, but largely because I feel that I understand it more than physics and chemistry. But to understand the nature as a whole and if we want to come up with a new innovation, we really need to, kind of, put all subjects together (also call interdisciplinary research)… for that I would resort to find experts who know a bit more about other subjects. For example, let’s say, if we want to make a little device for studying the inside of an animal/or human, biologist is needed to know what in the body it’s going into, physics might help with the mechanics of the movement of the device and also the electronic bits, chemistry then need to work out the right substrate to use for making the device so it last long.

      Also, a full disclosure, biology (and astronomy) were the only science subjects in school that I had never failed an exam; I had failed some exams in chemistry, physics, and maths!…woops..)

    • Photo: Mark Booth

      Mark Booth answered on 16 Jun 2016:

      Hi Mais

      I always have preferred biology, because it is the biotic output of all the abiotic process of physics and chemistry. How you move from a set of abiotic factors to a living organism is one of the greatest questions we can try and answer in my opinion

    • Photo: Linda Anagu

      Linda Anagu answered on 16 Jun 2016:

      @mais, I prefer chemistry, then biology is my second love. I am naturally good at chemistry. Thank you for the question.

    • Photo: Claire Bourke

      Claire Bourke answered on 16 Jun 2016:

      Hi mais dando, I am just as biased as the other scientists…my favourite is Biology but, as I think of myself as a Biologist, it is also the science that I know best.

      The reason why I like Biology so much is that it is so visible all around us – every time you have a cut or a scrape and it heals over, when you breathe in and out, or have a thought, that is biology in action! However, I also agree with the other scientists that it is difficult to separate out these subjects clearly in the real world as they are all interrelated. For example, a cell, which we often think of as being studied in biology, relies on constant chemical reactions to survive, so cell biology can’t be seen as separate from chemistry. Similarly, the organisation of our body and it’s function is dictated by forces, which are best explained by physics (to give but one example).

      I still use information that I learned in chemistry (e.g. making up concentrated solutions of chemicals) and physics (e.g. I use lasers to analyse cells) everyday in the laboratory, so I’m glad I paid attention to them at school!

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