the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.According to Google, a scientist is this...
a person who is studying or has expert knowledge of one or more of the natural or physical sciences.
Depending on the type of scientist you describe, Merriam Webster says a scientist is essentially someone learned in science or a scientific investigator.
The ideal scientist is someone who is objective, they keep their mind open and flexible. They understand that science is ongoing and ever changing because the tools, technology and methods are always improving. Technology advances provide new evidence that couldn't be observed or measured before. A scientist is someone who recognizes that science is never settled, it is always subject to change because of technology and new evidence.
My site here and others I have respect for all deal with scientific beekeeping.
Scientific is defined as...
based on or characterized by the methods and principles of science.
Ultimately, science is boiled down to the practice and pursuit of the scientific method.
principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses
A scientist is one who uses the scientific method to further knowledge of the world around them.
Yes, there are many scientists who are trained in a particular field of study and consequently are paid to pursue those studies on behalf of a company or university.
There are a lot of people who love to leave people thinking that a scientist is someone who gets paid to pursue a scientific study and possesses one or more academic degrees to validate that position.
I don't knock anyone who dedicates themselves to a field of scientific study and then is able to do that work for a living. I think it is admirable and it takes a lot of dedication and self discipline to accomplish such a task.
By the same token, I say that that person is not the only person who can truthfully be called a scientist. Money and the collection of academic degrees does not define the scientist.
In fact, many of the world's most noted scientific discoveries came not from educated scholars (though a great many have) but from laymen and those in religious orders who were inventors and observers of the natural world. People who wanted answers to the questions of "Why?" and "How?".
In fact, many of the most well known bee researchers and bee scientists were the latter types. Take Emile Warre was an Abbe ( a member of an Abbe or Monastory.), Lorenzo Langstroth was a Reverend. Huber was a noted theologian and Brother Adam a monk. Many and varied are the farmers, laymen and entrepreneurs who dedicated something of great value to the ongoing pursuit of knowledge of the honeybee.
Science today, in these modern times, can be quite contestable. What is released to the public with great fanfare one day, is refuted sometimes within days or weeks later after peer review of the methods and conditions said scientist used to reach their conclusions.
A great example of this is the recent and notable researcher, Dr. Lu, who had his work first praised in the mainstream media only to have his work turned on it's head by others in the bee research field who found egregious flaws in his methods and experimentation. Randy Oliver, another noted and respected bee researcher took this study to task and received quite a bit of negative attention because the topic is political hot potato involving crusading political activists, lethargic government entities and mutli-national corporations who stand to gain or lose billions of dollars by whether the research ultimately supports their claims or goes against them.
Professional scientists have to be accountable for the work they are paid to do. Their work is often the basis for industrialist corporations, governments and highly regarded universities to profit or gain from. They are under a lot of stress and pressure to come up with something that makes their employers or financiers look good. Professional scientists are only human after all. Despite the tendency of people wanting to elevate those in prestigious positions to a pedestal, professional scientists are fallible to the 7 deadly human sins as any person is.
They are susceptible to greed,sloth, lust, gluttony, wrath, envy and pride. A professional scientist is no better a person than an amateur scientist. They have access to money and better tools and equipment which enables them to do much more than many amateurs, but as a person, those things do nothing to distinguish them apart.
Ultimately, a scientist is a person. A person with all the traits, capabilities and vulnerabilities any person might have.
Science itself is a process of discovery. Observations are made, hypothesis are formed, tested and often are disproved. In this process, short amounts of time may pass or extremely long amounts of time may pass before new observations are made and new evidence is found. Sometimes this new evidence throws out what had bee thought long standing "proven" science and sometimes it upholds and confirms what was once thought to be something fantastic and out of left field.
One thing science never is is "settled". It may lay dormant for a great many years, growing fat on the beliefs of many who believe it to be the last word on a subject. It may never see the light of day longer than is needed to harpoon it immediately and send it to the depths of disproof.
Any scientist, professional or amateur who resists being questioned, their methods or their ideas, has lost sight of what science truly is and instead might be seen as a person who has become more concerned by the title of "scientist" and what it brings to them.
I would like to encourage all beekeepers, especially hobbyists, to be scientific beekeepers.
Educate yourself thoroughly about bee biology and behavior.
Observe and document as much as you can for each hive you keep.
Remember each colony is a little different, your actions with each hive might differ from the one next to it.
Don't be afraid to hypothesize about the health and needs of each hive. There are tests to determine if what you think is happening actually is.
The more you know, the better you bee.
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