Science is progress. It is humanity’s gift to itself. It exists on the frontier between the known and the unknown. It leads civilization in breaking through barriers for the good often held back by glass ceilings and barriers to thinking, doing, and illuminating; places steeped in darkness. But almost anything from transportation, to moon landings, to dark matter, to the very small or large-to infinity push the envelope of knowledge—outward or inward. It shows us what is possible, yet it challenges us to probe and to penetrate what is often thought to be impossible. It provides the means, the motive, and the sheer joy of unravelling the unknown to find what is possible. It requires only curiosity, a sense of awe, and an inner drive that is awakened by need and the good that we can do.

Credentials are nice, but not necessary. What could be more thought- or action-provoking than this simple statement: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Or, “God gave us a brain, and she expects us to use it.” And who can deny the urge to action from this challenge: “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” The authors: Socrates, Galileo, Horace Mann. And let’s not forget Marie Curie, Elizabeth Blackwell, Jane Goodall, Rachel Carson, or 21-year old Tiera Guinn, the MIT student who is helping to build a rocket for NASA that could be the most powerful engine ever made.

To be sure, science has its detractors. They include fear and greed. But it’s biggest enemy is ignorance. Those who are consumed by ignorance detest science, scientists, and their supporters. They destroy books, and libraries, and educational institutions on the false belief that fear is stronger than knowledge, and greed is the greatest good. We need to teach them how to think critically, a mental skill that has shown us how to change the landscape without destroying it.

Although often soft-spoken and with humility, we find scientists in many countries busy asking, probing, testing, discovering, and building new and novel ways of leading us along the highway of creation. The steps are not that difficult to savor. Scientists from all ages, welcome those who dare to dream and to probe their imaginations with only this beginning inquiry: “what if…”