Let's Not Crowd Me, I'm Only a Scientist

They should be the ones encircled by an eager audience at parties. Did you wake up to an alarm clock? Microwave your breakfast? Use that shiny new coffeemaker? More than likely you did. And what about plumbing, clean drinking water, drugs and vitamins to keep your blood pressure low and your energy level high? Perhaps you don't take advantage of these scientific breakthroughs yourself, but surely someone you know does.

Keep in mind that many of these technologies are based on scientific ideas that had little or no practical use when they were discovered. And the next time you meet a scientist at a party, remember: he or she may be working on something really, really boring, but 20 years from now, you'll be glad he or she did. So say thanks, after all, they make your world a better place.

Brumer lives in Washington, D.C.

© 2006