the scientific impulse

my thought of the day.

So, for the past few weeks Simon has been interested in underwater exploration. He has this book about a treasure-bearing ship (the Atocha) that sank and about the scientists/explorers who use signal magnetometers and sonar something-oters, etc. to find the treasure. He's been making signal magnetometers, etc. out of index cards and searching for underwater treasure in the house.

so it got me thinking this morning--it's just kind of funny, right? Instead of being particularly interested in dinosaurs, I mean, he liked them, but wasn't obsessed, he was fascinated by paleontology. He liked the tools: the picks, the brushes, etc. He always wanted to dig for fossils at museums that had that option, rather than look at the dinosaur dioramas. He stood and stared at the paleontology diorama at Natural History forever.

And instead of being particularly interested in pirates/pirate ships (again, he likes them, but isn't obsessed) he is absolutely taken with the tools that scientists use to find the treasure years later! He's reading all about these magnetometers and talking about them as if they're just the coolest things in the world.

ok it just struck me as kind of cool.