ElizabethN, my DH is a well-respected research materials scientist at a Fortune 25 Tech company.
I have a broader background even than that, having done everything from in vivo electro-analytical chemistry and neuroanatomy to environmental biophysics and elemental analysis, structure-activity modeling, and natural products isolation. She kind of grew up trailing me in the lab, so she has seen cardiac pharmacology, tissue culture, molecular biology, and natural products isolation up close and personal. Oh, and x-ray diffraction and surface methods, following dad. She's been reading dad's C&E News and other trade mags since she was about eight. Immersion environment, basically. LOL.
She's reluctant to enter one of the physical sciences because she feels that is just "doing what mom and dad do." Adolescent rebellion, basically.
We also feel that one of the cross-disciplinary sciences (as opposed to their engineering brethren) is likely to be a better fit for her in the long run because of the polymath issue. The alternative is to do something that pays well enough to support a LOT of intense hobbies.
This is the side of being a polymath that is VERY hard. I realize that comes off as smug and whiny in some places, which is why I only say it here-- but DD is truly struggling with not being able to do EVERYTHING on her interest list. Oh, and write the great American novel in her free time while she moonlights with a jazz trio on her free evenings.
