John,
I too receive the odd butt-whomping from a chemistry class. The subject, while genuinely somewhat difficult, is unfortunately used to 'weed out' 'undesirable' students from the sciences in many Universities (at least in the USA).
It seems to me that it is desirable to interest more people in the sciences (cephalopods!) rather than try to push them out. Biology, chemistry, toxicology &c. play such important roles in the modern world that it's insane to think that many nations could have a reasonably 'informed electorate/populace' if we try to show people that the sciences are too hard and they just shouldn't try to study them at all. Not that they aren't hard, they're just worth the effort, even if it's not one's full-time career.
I actually visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium for the first time a month or so ago even though I've lived only a few hours away for the whole time they've been around. I like the 2 or three really huge tanks they have there for the kelp bed exhibit and the pelagic fishies. The little tanks with big animals like the
Enteroctopus dofleini in them tend to depress me a bit. Nonetheless they do seem to be addressing my rant above by showing this groovy stuff off to the public.
The 'science communicator' folks there do seem to light up a bit when they find out they're talking to an adult who wants to study oceanography. They get all chatty about what schools they went to and where and what to study.
Mushroom broccoli stir-fry and IPA
