Megan Knapp

From the Editor’s Desk

3/7/2019

From the Editor’s Desk: Understanding our world, understanding ourselves

Lauren Fisher / Editor-in-Chief

Let’s get something straight.

I’ve always had a deep appreciation for science and for the scientists who help us better understand the complexity of the world around us. However, I can fully acknowledge that I am a “words person.” Science and math will never, ever make an ounce of sense to me.

I have a vivid recollection of long nights spent doing high school chemistry homework and failing to grasp the concept of balancing equations. When I had to attend a two-hour long chemistry seminar on opioid usage over the summer, it was like returning to some kind of intellectual battlefield.

Luckily, the saving grace of my scientific understanding came in the form Bill Bryson’s book A Short History of Nearly Everything. The book has been a fixture on my bookshelf since freshman year of high school. It’s pages, now coffee-stained and partially waterlogged from the one time I dropped it in a pool, have been well-pored over. It’s been my constant companion on every dorm room nightstand and in every carry-on bag.

What really drew me to the book in the first place was that it actually made sense. It’s a celebration of scientific discovery that doesn’t leave you feeling stupid for not understanding the science itself. It proved to me that you don’t need a degree in geology to understand the Earth’s core or a background in astrophysics to appreciate the vastness of the universe.

At the end of the day, that’s our goal with this special issue of The Post: to celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of scientists at Ohio University and in Athens, and to do so in a way that’s digestible for readers.

In making this edition, we tried our best to include stories from a wide range of disciplines. You’ll find everything from astronomy to dendrology (which I just recently learned refers to the study of trees), biology to geology.

Our reporters left the confines of Athens to learn about the towering timbers in Dysart Woods, the largest known remnant of Southeast Ohio’s original forest. They spoke with OU scientists about research in Antarctica and spent time with a team that’s using video games to help boost the academic skills of kids with ADHD.

We hope you enjoy this special edition of The Post, and we hope that you’ll appreciate the work these stories explore, even if you don’t have a background in science. At the end of the day, it’s through science — a better understanding of our world — that we can better understand ourselves.

Lauren Fisher is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University and the editor-in-chief of The Post. Have questions? Email Lauren at lf966614@ohio.edu or tweet her @Lauren__Fisher.

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Development by: Midge Mazur / For The Post

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