All in a Day's Work: Careers in Science

This book was apparently "aimed at giving high school students a taste of the diversity of careers in which science is used and at making them aware of how increasingly important science learning is in today's world" (p. vii). That is an understatement; I benefited enormously from reading this and I don't even remember when I was last in high school.

The interviews that make up the book are very well done. They clearly demonstrate that even in our fast-paced and money-cum-sex driven world science matters in many ways, and it is a large part of various careers one would normally not think of as involving science.

Men and women come to science careers from different backgrounds, but share two important common characteristics. They all have recognized the importance of education, and the role of science in it and in society. They all discovered science in different ways and are open to multidisciplinary approaches to science.

Again there is no one specific way to work in science. It is clear that a career in science requires a background in science and math. Both are open to those interested - not disregarding that they are hard to pursue. Science is not dull; it is fun, creative, and interesting. I read all the chapter headings and some of the caption boxes and "bonus points" to my 8-year-old daughter. Some careers like firefighting and paramedic seem to appeal to children in incomprehensible ways - every child wants to be a police officer, or firefighter, when they grow up. But hearing that scientists design roller coasters was just pure fun to my daughter, proving my point again that this book is good reading for any one. I recommend it strongly.