SFHQ Scientist's Manual by Katherine Dedul

(Reproduced with permission from Katherine Dedul)

Introduction:

This manual will help you becoming one of the more important positions on a starship. The Engineers, Security Officers and Medical Officers typically get all the glory, but scientists arguably are some of the smartest folk on a starship. One of the orders of a starship is to explore new worlds and seek out new life...you can't do this effectively without a scientist!

We're going to start with the absolute basics and go into a bit more complex matters. This manual will cover the basics, but will provide you with links to excellent websites like Memory Alpha which contain more detailed information if you wish to use them. Our goal here isn't to bombard you with a bunch of information that may be of use to you, but rather to give you the tools necessary to succeed in a science posting on a ship.

Positions in Science:

There are two main types of science officer, the Chief Science Officer(CSO) and the Science JO(Sci). However, a science vessel may further specify their scientists into categories like "Geologist", "Biologist", "Chemist", etc.

A. Chief Science Officer

This is the senior most scientists onboard. They generally have a specialty, but have enough knowledge in all areas of science to act as an expert in that field if required. They represent the science department in senior staff meetings and will delegate tasks to the scientists assigned to their team. Typically, the CSO will also be part of the away missions if the Commanding Officer assigns a science officer to the mission.

B. Scientist

These folks are junior officers who report directly to the CSO. They will have one or two key areas of specialization(ie: Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, etc) and will work to advance their work in that field when permitted. They will also be called upon when the ship is facing a problem that fits within their field of specialty, particularly if the CSO merely knows the basics of that field.

You may also hear terms like "ranking biologist" or something similar, this has nothing to do with the rank of the officer in question, but rather the depth of their understanding. A ranking biologist for example would mean that this particular scientist is more experienced in the field of biology than anyone else on the starship.

The Fields of Scientific Exploration:

This section concerns some basic concepts you might want to take with you as you play your medical character. I've included some links to the articles on Wikipedia and Memory Alpha, but you can always google these disciplines for a lot more articles and information. These fields and sub-fields are not how everyone would describe science, but rather one way of many. The field of science is constantly changing, with each new discovery in fact. It's not important for our purposes that you learn all you can about the field(s) of expertise you might choose for a character, but rather that you learn what types of work they might do in a day-to-day situation. Scientists are concerned with answering questions, making comparisons and furthering our understanding of the universe in general, but each scientific field is concerned with one particular area of the universe. Once you're through this section, you'll see why, there's simply not enough time in the span of the life of a typical Humanoid to learn it all!

A. Basic Scientific Fields

i)Physics - Basically defined as the study of matter and its motion through the universe. It can be further subdivided into the branches of:
a. Classical Mechanics
b. Electromagnetism
c. Statistical Mechanics
d. Thermodynamics
e. Quantum mechanics
f. Relativity

More information on Physics can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Physics (Memory Alpha)

ii)Chemistry - Defined as a study of matter and the changes it undergoes. It differs from physics because it studies primarily the composition, behavior, structure and the properties of matter. It can be further subdivided into branches of:
a. Biochemistry
b. Inorganic
c. Nuclear
d. Organic
e. Physical
f. Theoretical

More information on Chemistry can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistry (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Chemistry (Memory Alpha)

B. Spatial Sciences

i)Astronomy - Defined as the study of celestial objects and other associated phenomena. Some people may refer to this field as "Astrophysics", generally they are seen to be one and the same. It can be further subdivided into the branches of:
a. Stellar/Solar
b. Galactic
c. Extragalactic
d. Cosmology

More information on Astronomy can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy (wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Astronomy (Memory Alpha)

Note: While not required, it is highly recommended that your character have at least a secondary specialization in this field, particularly if you're on a starship as this field would get the most "screen" time since the bulk of discoveries on starships involve spatial phenomenon. Most scientists on a starship would have a fairly solid grounding in this field.

C. Planetary Sciences

i)Geology - is the study of physical matter that constitutes a planet. It includes the study of composition, structure, properties and history of a planet's physical material and the processes by which it is formed, moved and changed. It can be subdivided into such categories as:
a. Economic
b. Engineering
c. Hydrology
d. Natural Hazards
e. Regional

More information can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Geology (Memory Alpha)

ii)Geography - Geographers are typically concerned with the study of the spatical and temporal distribution of land forms, processes and features as well as the interactions Humanoids have with their natural environment. The main branches of Geography include:
a. Physical
b. Humanoid
c. Environmental
d. Geomatics
e. Regional

More information can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Geography (Memory Alpha)

D. Life Sciences

i)Biology - Concerned with the study of life and living organisms. There are quite a few distinct branches of biology, some of them are:
a. Biochemistry
b. Agriculture
c. Botany
d. Entomology
e. Genetics
f. Paleontology

More information can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Biology (Memory Alpha)

ii)Archaeology - Is the study of past Humanoid civilizations through recovery and analysis of material remains. Some sub-disciplines include:
a. Historical
b. Ethnoarchaeology
c. Experimental Archaeology
d. Archaeometry

More information can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archeology (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Archeology (Memory Alpha)

iii)Anthropology - Is concerned with the study of humanity. It looks at the origins of humanoids, how they developed culture and language. There are various subfields of Anthroplogy, some of which include:
a. Social
b. Cultural
c. Ethnology
d. Forensic
e. Urban

More information can be found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology (Wikipedia)
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Anthropology (Memory Alpha)

Tools of the Trade:

As stated in the previous section, you don't need to know everything about the field you've selected as your characters area of expertise. You don't even need to study up on principles that the field is concerns with. Scientists have their own form of "techno-babble" that differs from engineers in that they're concerned with explaining the universe. This section will cover the common problems a scientist will be faced with on a starship.

A. A Strange New Phenomenon

Typically this is a new type of nebula, star, gaseous cloud, etc. Astronomers typically handle these types of problems(Hence why it's recommended that your character at least have a secondary interest in this field. Chemists and physicists may also see some use of their field here as well and if the new phenomenon is a space faring creature, then likely biologists may also be called upon.

This heading is also where you'll discover that wonderful five letter word...Probe. Probes will extend the sensor capabilities of a starship, it's important to keep in mind the specs of your ship(certain ships will have a certain set of probes in their inventory). Probes come in different classes and sizes, smaller ships will likely have only basic probes in their inventory and their number will vary based upon the space the ship has. When in doubt, consult the specs, if that doesn't clear up any confusion, check with your CSO or CO, they'll give you a definitive answer.

Typically the GM will provide you with details of the new anomaly. Your job will be to role-play your character checking the ever so useful Federation database for similar spatial phenomenon for comparison. GMs will typically base their creation off of something similar they've read about or seen on television, putting their own little "twist" on it, so they will typically give you details of the "original" phenomenon(or at least a link to where you can view it yourself!)

B. Planetary Story-lines

Another common science use is exploring a new planet or revisiting an old planet that is faced with a new problem(for example, a Federation world we know quite well facing a new weather phenomenon they haven't faced before).

Earth-based and life scientists will likely be involved here(physicists and chemists as well, depending upon the problem their involvement will manifest in different ways). Like spatially based problems, it will involve comparing the new problem with similar problems faced prior by other crews and starships by searching the Federation Database. Comparison is the basic method of understanding something new, by doing so, it may be possible to predict the behavior of the lifeform, predict the use of each part of a set of ruins or predict what may work to contain a phenomenon for further study.

C. Some Things to Keep in Mind

Scientists may not be able to relieve officers of duty like medical doctors and counselors can, but they can sometimes convince a superior officer to do as they wish by using their smarts.

Some scientists may come across as a bit arrogant(think: Nella Daren from the TNG ep "Lessons"), others can be more humble(think: Samantha Wildman from Voyager), both officers were certainly skilled in their area of expertise, but had different personalities. So it's up to you, whether you want to have an egomaniac of a character who thinks that his or her specific field of scientific study is the most important thing since sliced bread, or someone who is a bit more willing to listen to other fields of scientific research.

Don't be afraid to be creative, COs don't promote you based upon whether or not they believe the ideas of your scientist have solid academic grounding, they promote you based upon your ability to both post in response to specific direction from the GM and avoiding going AWOL when the mission doesn't involve you directly.

What to do When You're Bored:

You may sometimes find yourself waiting around for action in a mission, particularly if you are on a combat or diplomatic vessel. This section deals with some hints and tips on how to keep yourself busy when the mission isn't otherwise providing you with chances to post.

The idea is to create a few little sub-plots that can be easily ignored when the mission is keeping you busy, but ones that you can consistently turn to when the mission storyline isn't providing you with enough posting chances.

Some suggestions:

-Character development. Have your character do some independent research on their favorite topic.(Read our Article on Posting IC and Developing a Character)
-Visit the holodeck.
-Run diagnostics on all the lab equipment.
-Have a get together with other scientists in the messhall.

Conclusion:

This concludes our lesson on the basics of playing in the science department. Hopefully you found this informative and are even more excited at the prospect of playing a science officer out there in SFHQ!

Testing Materials:

The following are scenarios that the science course instructor may use when testing the cadets on the Academy ship. Instructors may come up with an entirely new scenario for you, but these should give you a pretty good idea of what will be expected of you when you are tested. It's up to you to make up any details that are not otherwise provided in the scenarios. All answers to these scenarios on the academy ship must be written by way of a IC post.

A. Exploring A New World:

i) You are the ranking biologist on your starship and as such the CSO has picked you as part of the away team to go down and explore the new planet.(Hint: As a biologist, what might you be interested in collecting and exploring?)

ii) You are the ranking geologist on your starship and as such the CSO wants you to head down on the away mission to a new planet.(Hint: What sorts of things might you be interested in as a geologist?)

iii) You are the ranking archeologist on your starship and the away team has discovered some ancient ruins, so naturally your CSO wants you to beam down and join the away team.(Hint: What sorts of things might you be looking for as an archeologist?)

B. Exploring A New Spacial Phenomenon:

i) You are the ranking astronomer on a starship and the ship has just discovered a new nebula, the CSO has put you in charge of the research on it.(Hint: What sorts of things might you want to start doing with the scans of that nebula?)

ii) You are the CSO on a starship that has been assigned to examine a new expanse of space. Delegate your staff appropriately.

iii) You are the CSO on a starship that has been trapped by a strange phenomenon, what are some of the things you'll need to do to begin to help the ship free itself?

C. Keeping Busy On Your Own:

i) You're on a mission and guess what...the science department literally has nothing to do....how are you going to keep yourself from being bored out of your mind?

ii) The CSO of your ship is busy with the away team, you're on the ship because as a astronomer, you aren't needed on the planet's surface, what might you do to keep yourself busy and productive?

iii) The CSO of your ship is busy helping the space based scientists map a new nebula, you are a anthropologist, you aren't needed. So what are you going to do to make sure you remain productive in the department?