What was your first experience of science communication – what was the first science you were ever told? Can you remember? Well I couldn’t but a recent visit to my optician suggested to me what it might have been.
As I approach the beautifully labeled time of life that is middle-age, apparently my poor tired eye muscles are no longer going to be able to flick between what’s near and what’s far away with the same efficiency that I’ve always been used to. In other words, I am now sporting for the first time in my life a nifty pair of retro black framed glasses.
So being the science type person that I am, I lost no time in googling to see what foods could I eat (or should I have been eating) to preserve things as they are – or maybe even reverse the decline.
You’ve probably already guessed what I found. Yep, that’s right Doc.
Carrots.
You see (pun intended), carrots contain a carotenoid called beta-carotene; your body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A which is an anti-oxidant, and antioxidants such as vitamin A are essential to eye health. Vitamin A is known to help your eyes adjust to light changes.
So what was my first experience of science communication?
“Eat your carrots, they’ll help you see in the dark” (I agree – maybe a slight exaggeration there).
Source: my mother (not a scientist in the strictest sense of the word).
Date: circa 1971 (I was about 4 years old)
If you can beat that I’d love to hear from you…
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Comments on this entry are closed.