Why science?

I'd be lying if I said that I wanted to become a scientist since I was a little kid. I have no idea what I wanted to become when I was a little kid. Probably a ballerina, given that my earliest happy memory is dancing Ravel's Boléro in our living room, holding a tulle in my hand. Sometime during my school years though I decided I wanted to become a physicist. I did not like the physics we learned at school (I did not like school in general) nor was I passionately doing experiments at home. I was simply very curious and I wanted to understand the how and the why behind our world and our existence. And I thought physics would provide me with answers.

From the various physical phenomena, what I found most intriguing was electromagnetism. So, I went on and studied Electrical Engineering. I took classes on electromagnetism, antennas, wave propagation and signal processing. The fact that we can modulate something invisible, energy, and we can use it to communicate with each other, fascinated me. After my studies, I worked for a year and a half as a software engineer for a telecommunications company, testing code used for mobile telephony. But I knew this was temporary. By then, I had already decided I wanted to become a scientist. To be more accurate, I had decided I wanted to do research. For me at that time, being a scientist was a title you had to earn through major contributions to the advancement of science. Doing research was easier, it was about doing the effort, not necessarily achieving something but working towards that goal. It was only later, when I understood that all contributions matter, however small, that I enlarged my definition of a scientist to include all researchers.

So, I knew I wanted to do research. I wanted to push the limit of what is known about how nature works. But that is kind of vast. What would I be doing research on more precisely? My first idea was to get involved in the field of Biomedical Engineering. I had and still have two primary motivations in life: understand nature and improve the well-being of people. Biomedical research seemed to be spot on for both. To get a better sense of it, soon after my graduation, I attended an international Biomedical Engineering conference in Greece, the first international scientific conference I ever attended. I left the conference feeling that that's not it. Not for me. If I would be doing biomedical research I wanted to be the doctor, not the engineer. I don't know if that was a wise conclusion and decision but it was enough for me to drop the idea. And now what? 

One of the reasons I went to work for a telecommunications company was to buy me some time until I figure out what type of research I wanted to do. It was on a day I was hiking Mount Olympus that it hit me. I remember standing on that mountain and suddenly feeling a sense of deep connection to the Earth. It is one of these magical moments that it’s hard to describe with words. That moment I knew I wanted to do something related to the Earth. Earth + Magnetism= Geomagnetism. I knew almost nothing about geomagnetism at that time since my background had very little to do with geophysics but the idea of studying Earth's magnetic field felt thrilling. I resigned from my job and moved to Paris. Being in Paris, studying geomagnetism. It felt like I became a ballerina. It felt like all dreams can come true. Until the reality of what it takes to do a PhD kicked in. It's not fun. Don't do it. OK just kidding. But think a lot before you do. In good days it felt like a gift. In bad days it felt like a self-imposed challenge. 

At the end of it I could not imagine myself doing anything else than research. During my PhD, I had met intelligent and interesting people from all over the world. I had travelled to many countries to present my work at conferences. I had attended inspiring talks. I had spent time in nature getting trained to do field work. I had taught bachelor and master courses. I had spent hours upon hours learning and thinking. And I had done so with a high degree of independence and flexibility. And all of that, with the aim of expanding the limits of what is known. I was not proud of myself for having completed a PhD for the sake of the degree but I was proud I could go on earning my living by calling all the above my job. 

I don't remember at which point I learned that not only Earth but other planets as well have magnetic fields. I would again lie if I said that I had a fascination with space since I was a kid. I didn't. On the contrary, I was too much in love with Earth. Ideas like the one presented in the film Interstellar, where we mess up with Earth so badly that we need to inhabit a new planet to save our species, saddened me deeply. But it so happens that if you study Earth's magnetic field you are well equipped to study the magnetic field of other planets as well. And so, I started studying the magnetic field of Mars. And now I am also studying the magnetic field of the Moon and hopefully soon will be studying the magnetic field of more planetary bodies. Planetary science has won me over. One of the main characteristics of nature is variety. And planetary science allows you to delve into the beauty of this. Each celestial body is a world of its own. And as you study one, you get to better understand the others. 

I have since long abandoned my childhood idea of understanding “the how and the why behind our world and our existence”. I accept life as a huge mystery and I am happy waking up every day with a sense of awe and wonder about it. Whatever pieces we manage to put together, there will be more. We have not even asked all of the questions.