Never Science Alone

“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants,” is a quote attributed to British mathematician, astronomer and author Isaac Newton, though he was far from the first to use it.

Standing on the shoulders of giants evokes imagery of a few giants whose contributions define a field. 

In Newton’s case, you might think of Aristotle’s work on gravity inspiring Galileo inspiring Newton inspiring Einstein. But none of those scientists (or natural philosophers as the first three were called in their time) worked alone.

A TEAM EFFORT

Aristotle was one of many philosophers who collaborated in Plato’s Lyceum. Galileo wrote in Italian instead of Latin specifically to invite engagement from a broader audience. Newton was the 12th President of the Royal Society, a scientific institution that still exists today. And there are photos of Einstein attending conferences alongside the likes of Marie Curie and Niels Bohr.

_{Caption: The fifth Solvay Conference, attended by Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr and many others
Credit: Benjamin Couprie, 1927. Public Domain.}

Widely publicised awards like the Nobel Prizes reinforce the perception of science as a field of giants who make great strides alone. 

Nobel Prizes can be awarded to a maximum of three people. 

The 2017 Nobel Prize in physics, for example, was awarded for LIGO and Virgo’s observation of gravitational waves. 

It was a feat achieved by the collective effort of tens of thousands of people but only three were acknowledged. The three recipients deserve to be recognised for their lifetime of research, but to position them as giants diminishes the contributions of thousands of others.

Perhaps a better way to consider science is as three kobolds in a trenchcoat.

WORKING YOUR WAY UP THE … TRENCHCOAT?

_{Caption: Three kobolds in a trenchcoat
Credit: Keelan Powell (not for reproduction)}

The top kobold is the lead researcher and the one whose name gets attached to most new discoveries. 

The middle kobold has been in the field for a while and will replace the top kobold when they retire, but in the meantime, their job is to keep everything stable. 

Finally, the bottom kobold is an early-career researcher or a graduate student who does the most exhausting work. Eventually, they’ll climb the trenchcoat ‘ladder’.

And of course, the trenchcoat itself is the institution of science through which knowledge is passed. 

While none of the kobolds who first donned the trenchcoat are still around, their contributions survive as long as new kobolds are willing to start at the bottom.

Advancements made by many

To understand how scientists collaborate today, Particle talked to three kobolds in the trenchcoat of medical physics: Dr Pejman Rowshan Farzad, Dr Jake Kendrick and Joel Noble.

Medical physics is a field that involves preventing, diagnosing and treating various diseases, particularly cancers. 

Since medical physics draws from physics, medicine, mathematics and computer science, it thrives on collaboration, but UWA’s medical physics program is more collaborative than most.

“We are located in Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and our students are starting in industry when they start their master’s,” says Pejman.

Pejman is the chair of the medical physics program – he’s the top kobold in the trenchcoat. But he can’t work alone. No medical physicist can. 

That’s why there are regular multidisciplinary meetings between the program’s researchers and staff at the hospital.

“The quality of our research would be substantially lower if we didn’t have these multidisciplinary meetings,” says Jake. He’s a lecturer in medical physics and AI – the middle kobold in the trenchcoat. 

“They bring so many perspectives together and so many people with differing expertise in different areas, which you need to create and conduct a good research project and then finally implement it into clinical practice.

“You can’t do that without multidisciplinary meetings.”

Joel, who is a PhD candidate, agrees. “If you weren’t able to collaborate and gain knowledge from those around you … I think it would be essentially impossible to do any meaningful, clinically relevant, research,” he says.

_{Caption: (Left to right) Dr Pejman Rowshan Farzad, Dr Jake Kendrick and Joel Noble.
Credit: Supplied}

Communication is key

Medical physics is only set to become more collaborative as AI algorithms offer more precise diagnosis and treatment. 

Pejman describes the role of medical physicists as a bridge between software engineers and clinicians. They understand the languages of both medicine and computing.

Communication in general is “a huge part of being a successful medical physicist”, says Joel. 

All three researchers agree that, if you want to get into medical physics, it’s critical to develop your communication skills, even as early as high school. 

The medical physicists at UWA continue developing those skills on their Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels.

In medical physics, there are “multiple dimensions you need to have as a person”, says Jake. 

“You get to learn about physics, medicine, maths and computer science and how all of these fields tie together to make a very unique discipline that makes a real difference to people’s lives.”

Beyond medical physics, all scientists are career collaborators for whom communication is essential, no matter their position in the trenchcoat.