Why knocking is so important.

[Drich]

Ignoring your inane phrasing of the question- anybody can do science Drich.

You don't have to be smart......or rich. There's this tendency to think of science as a bunch of geniuses in the room. Science is, in fact, something that "normal" people do all day. It's a 9-5. It's a system. Its the productive yield of buzzing little bees. More about consistency and work than moments of brilliance. "Eurekas" are few and far between. The majority of science is done by the rank and file (without whom, those "eureka" moments would be hard pressed). If you want to do some research, then start from first principles. You'll learn how to build whatever instrument you might be wishing for in the process of learning about the body of science. If you find that you can;t afford to build it - no worries, bet somebody (or a group of somebodies) already built one. Send them a proposal, if it has merit and they have availability - watch what happens.

I used to work with two very different researchers. One was an older immigrant 60ish, might have been a little younger -hard life-, Maria. The other a 20 something (moderately effeminate) dude in a nursing program who had moved to Florida from Arizona on the basis of tuition, Loren. Neither were geniuses. I don't say this as a dig to them. They're my friends, hell, I damn near love 'em - and they are average folks - same as myself. Neither were scientists. Nevertheless their work ethic facilitated state funded conservation research. Massive data farming -on a farm. I just wanted to offer you a view from the bottom, because I get the feeling that you have a sort of fairy tale workup of science in your head. That it's full of stuff that John Q just wouldn't (or couldn't) comprehend - a sort of modern Camelot with fancy toys and a tight guest list. It's not.

I made a qualifier you seem to have missed. I said very few of us are smart enough or have the resources to test EVERYTHING One Believes in Science. For what you can good for you, for what you can't their is Faith.