Motivation: Open Science Tools

As an undergraduate, I was always into open source software, I joined a LUG and worked for a student organization that recycled old PCs, put Linux on them and gave them to students in need. Where work was concerned though, I was perfectly willing to use Mathematica and MATLAB as scientific computing tools because they could get the job done. I was sort of aware of the fact that they set the Physics department back quite a bit of money, but I never put any real thought into the alternatives. Python was something I picked up because it was a fun toy to play with.

After the degree, I moved back to Ghana and worked for a year for in a role that partly involved supporting local scientific institutions. In an environment where the combination of low standards of living and minuscule budgets for science make licence fees completely out of reach, tools like MATLAB, LABVIEW, Mathematica etc. are pretty much completely out of reach. software and papers written with those tools can't be used either. The scientific Python stack and tools like it (Octave, Maxima, Scilab etc. ) went from being interesting alternatives to things that can make a substantial difference in allowing people with minimal resources to be productive and participate in science. 

Demotivation: Computer Science

I started as an undergraduate unsure of whether I wanted to major in physics, engineering or computer science, so I took the intro computer science class to help me make up my mind. It was taught by a professor who was probably really smart, but spent all of class time basically having a conversation about object oriented programming concepts with the couple of kids in the class who understood enough to get something out of it and ignoring everyone else.

In the end, I still got a good grade in the class by spending all my time with the textbook and putting in long hours in the computer lab, but I was soured on the CS department pretty much permanently because they put someone in charge of beginners who didn’t actually care to teach them anything. That class is the reason I try to make sure I pay attention to the people in I teach who are drifting away or are having a hard time understanding me. Its also part of why I ended up in physics. The teacher cared more about his students.