I'm actively in academia and this is such the truth. My favorite thing to do is ask PhD students about their thesis and watch them light up.

Ha, same! Out in the field it gets even better!

Being a passionate scientist is being so completely and utterly enamored with the natural world tha you can find beauty everywhere. It's wonderful.

It really is, which is why the portrayal of "science" and "scientists" in this thing is so fucking dreadful and such a betrayal.

I will say, things do get nasty as soon as money is involved, especially in pharmacy. I've had... a less than pleasant experience emailing the authors of a paper with some questions. Generally, people are pretty nice, but that competition is definitely still there.

Chauvinism too, unfortunately. And I can't think of a single thing that doesn't get nasty when money is involved.

Preach.

TESTIFY!