Introduction

In early times, science (astrology then) was a profession with an apprentice system in which students learnt from those who observed and planned the research. From the late 19th century, an educational sequence developed (Table 1) which placed students in schools with slow-changing syllabi, stifling most opportunities for students to experience the newest research methods.

This codification of education allows formal exams and curricula to dominate the secondary and early university phases. It is in this period that many students lose interest and turn away from a science career.

However, chance stimulation, incentives and revelations do occur. Most of those who continue with science can recollect a key incident that revealed the excitement and intensity of original investigation and steered them into their career.

I quote two examples. Joan Freeman (1991) records in her autobiography, 58 years later, the impact of the newspaper headline (2 May 1932) `SPLITTING THE ATOM AT THE CAVENDISH LABORATORY'. ``Suddenly I realised that facts laid down in text books were not necessarily inviolate: through scientific research, discoveries could be made which revised or even contradicted existing beliefs.''

For Bryan Gaensler, 1999 Young Australian of the Year, ``the book that started it all was one my parents gave me, simply titled `Album of Astronomy' ... it drew me in with its incredible descriptions of all the things that had been discovered out there, and, even better, all the things we still didn't know about'' (Gaensler, 1999).

Astronomy continues to find extraordinary things in the universe, to exploit limits of technology and to challenge theoretical explanation. Almost every year sees new puzzles, crazy concepts and flashes of comprehension. Australian astronomers share these discoveries and, with a world reputation for their research, have both an incentive and a responsibility to stimulate science in all stages of the school system. This is especially true in NSW where 75% of our professional astronomers work.

The challenge is made specific in the 1993 strategy review of Australian physics: ``In addition to their contribution to Australia's physics research, the universities bear the major responsibility for training new physicists, and for training physics teachers. Basic education in science -- including physics -- and the stimulation or supression of interest in these disciplines begin much earlier, in the primary and secondary schools.'' (National Committee for Physics, 1993, p10).

© Copyright Astronomical Society of Australia 1997