***Archiving. Originally published in The Monitor Magazine, Summer 2014, Original title was “Two of my favorite Scientists***

Achievement, advancement, and innovation are things that are often seen in a positive light but often have a disconnect with those that drove those achievements.  As a society, we often take achievement and face value and look at how it will benefit our lives or the benefit of others.  It’s important to understand the mind(s) and the personalities behind innovation.  The two must not be separated.

Jane Goodall is a British Primatologist who has spent her entire career studying the chimpanzee population in Tanzania, Africa.  Her focus on animal welfare and nonhuman rights has put her at the forefront of research into the area of primate culture and habits.  As a result, Jane Goodall has become a popular figure in popular culture and has been a prominent figure on television programs, documentaries, and even cartoons.  Jane Goodall is also a UN Messenger of Peace, a designation that promotes the message of the United Nations.

Committing oneself to a culture in a different country is by itself a monumental achievement.  Committing your life to a different species as well as culture is something else altogether.  The passion involved in this sort of pursuit is rarely seen.  It shows that compassion should know no bounds and that advancement and kindness are not just things that should solely be human-focused.

Mae Jemison was the first African-American woman in space.  In addition to being a NASA Astronaut, Mae Jemison is also a Medical Doctor with an MD degree from Cornell University.  Life after NASA took Dr. Jemison to the world of academia and teaching.  Posts included Dartmouth College and Cornell University.  Dr. Jemison has a strong interest in dance and has studied many forms including jazz and ballet.

Prior to becoming an Astronaut, Dr. Jemison was a Medical Officer with the Peace Corps with tours of service in Liberia and Sierra Leone.  Projects included establishing health and safety guidelines for communities within each country.

Dr. Jemison is a strong advocate for the use of science in technology within society as well as encouraging minorities to become involved in scientific fields.

Richard Feynman.  The ultimate humanitarian scientist.  An eccentric individual who did not keep his love of hard science get in the way of being a safecracker, a bongo player, and a student of Tuvan Throat Singing.  Known as one of the greatest science communicators and educators of recent generations, Richard Feynman is the very definition citizen scientist.

Dr. Feynman was a co-winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics.  His work in quantum electrodynamics set a new precedent for understanding our world at the smallest level.  Awards and recognitions were not one of his favorite things and he found them to be silly and embarrassing.  He accepted awards because they put the focus on his physics and the work he was accomplishing within his field.

A long career at the California Institute of Technology was often overshadowed by his public lectures and public profiles.  He was well known to have worked on his research while sitting in a strip club in Pasadena, California.  It was habits such as this that made him real to people who could not understand his work.  He is quite possibly most known in popular culture as a member of the NASA committee that investigated that Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.  His simple experiment showing how cold temperatures altered the shape of a simple O-ring was shown repeatedly on television at the time.  This experiment ultimately showed why the shuttle exploded.

Understanding even a small amount about the lives of individuals that change our world leads to a better understanding of their work and why they focused on the fields of study that brought them national attention.  Eccentricity, quirkiness, and unrelated interests are often what drive people to change their world.  It’s rare that a straightforward conventional individual will have the personality or audacity to push the world in a different direction.