Singing Scientists

Back in 1959 Tom Glazer teamed up with Dottie Evans to record a series of six albums called “Singing Science”. Their little ditties covered a wide range of topics from “Constellation Jig” to “A Thumbnail Sketch of Atomic Energy”. You probably even know Tom Glazer, but you don’t know you know. His peak of commercial success came with a parody he wrote and performed entitled “On Top Of Spaghetti”, the tale of a lost meatball.


In the Glazer tradition there are many Singing Scientists out there willing to pick up the torch – for better or worse. Here are two examples:

Matthew Barnett, an Auckland based Senior Research Scientist in AgResearch’s Food Metabolism & Microbiology Section and part-time rock band member, has written and recorded a music video about his research - Nutritional Epigenetics - which is about how food and genes inter-relate. “It’s great to be able to sing about your passion. New Zealand scientists are doing some amazing work. We’re passionate about what we do and it’s fun to start singing the praises of some of the research,” he says.

That's why I chose chemical engineering? The video, called "A Reactor for Your Future" was a project for Principles of Chemical Engineering and Process Modeling and the objective was to make an promotional video for Chemical Engineering at Yale. The film features a prospective engineering student encountering various illustrious scientists who made contributions to chemical engineering at Yale and singing along with them to a folky, indie song.

Oh these wacky scientists with time on their hands.