Communication and Persuasion in Biochemistry

Science seems like an intimidating subject for many when looking at it from the outside.  When I respond to the question “What are you majoring in?” and I reply, “Biochemistry”, I usually get a reply resembling, “Oh, you’re one of those smart people.”  Actually, I’ve barely begun my undergraduate studies in my field, but as I am exposed to more and more I understand why people cringe when they hear the word “chemistry”.  You see, it may be a challenging subject, but it is the communicative gap, not the subject matter, that makes people remember their “worst class in high school”. 

Just this year, I took a lab biochemistry class.  Basically, I read a few academic papers and then report to a chemistry teacher about what I’ve learned.  I’ll be honest.  I understand maybe ten percent of what these scientist are trying to explain.  When they start putting numbers in the middle of words is when you’ve lost me.  Time and time again, I ask myself which will be harder to learn: Spanish or the language of organic chemistry.  The first day I tried to read these papers it reminded me of an experience from my senior year of high school.  I had started working part-time in a university laboratory looking at gaseous products produced by fungi.  After analyzing a promising fungus I found, the professor showed me a list of gases that the fungus was excreting.  “Which of these chemicals burn?”, he asked.  You try picking from a list of twenty chemicals that include names like “Perchloroethylene” and “1,3-butadiene”.  I wanted to ask him if he would make it a multiple choice response.  Thankfully, I came across ethanol and used it as my answer.  “Good,” replied the professor, “What else?...”

Although most of scientific jargon is employed so academics can be succinct and accurate, I feel that rhetoric is occasionally used as an elitist tactic to keep amateur researchers out of the professional ring.  Returning to the example of my current lab teacher, whenever I ask him to explain a concept I encountered in my reading, it makes sense as he uses common words and common sense.  However, when I read it, I still struggle mightily.  Perhaps my perception of scientific academia will change as I progress in my field.  For now, I’m still asking myself, “What in the world is 2-(methylamino)-5-chlorobenzophenone imine?”