My preschooler daughter started her bedtime routine rather late tonight, because I am always a sucker for certain types of questions. Tonight, she asked about how our lungs move air in and out. That led to how the heart works, then how muscles work, which zoomed in and in through fiber bundles to individual cells, fibers within the cells, and actin and myosin.
Each picture or diagram came with a "And what is inside that part? [point]" until we were looking at an actin protein, then a molecule of ATP, an oxygen atom, and finally the stark and simple table of the standard model itself. What's inside an electron? Nobody knows, or even if that question really makes sense. We know somebody who's working with CERN on the Higgs. Quarks have really funny names. We're out at the edge of science and I'm grinning and telling her that when she grows up, she could be a scientist and help try to find out the answers to all of these questions.
We know so much about our world, remarkably much, but the nearness of the edge of science continues to exhilarate me. It doesn't take many questions to get you out there, and the path is simpler than many realize. Our children can walk it easily, if we do not discourage them and if we smile and appreciate the "I don't knows."
After Harriet gets out of her bath, we're going to omit the usual bedtime story and watch "Powers of Ten" instead. I'm looking forward to it.
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