alt Hacker NewsI wonder how many scientists and engineers were first pulled toward their field by an Attenborough documentary. That kind of slow cultural influence is hard to measure.
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block_dagger • yesterday at 11:02 PM
I wasn’t pulled toward the field of study, but came away with a great appreciation and wonder for nature. My parents recorded many of his documentaries on Betamax tapes in the 1980s and my brother and I watched all of them many times in our formative years. Happy birthday to a truly great human.
A lot, especially in organismal biology / field biology. We even name things after him, like carnivorous plants (Nepenthes attenboroughii), the whole genus Sirdavida, a hawkweed (Hieracium attenboroughianum), ... more than 50 taxa in all.
The unfortunate thing is that the area of biology he has drawn people to is difficult to make a living in. Jobs are few, there is intense compettion for them, they don't pay well, and there is often little job security. In some ways it is the Art History of a STEM discipline.