Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, best known as the guy on Triple J who answers all those weird questions on science, is a hard man to typecast – and he certainly doesn’t belong to any particular stereotype, but there’s much more to the enigmatic Dr Karl persona than first meets the eye.
In a life full of career diversity, Dr Karl has applied his talents at one time or another to filmmaking, taxi driving, road managing for bands and apprenticing a master mechanic.
“There are so many decisions and paths I could’ve ended up on; I could’ve ended up in jail or I could have ended up dead!” Karl joked.
“There’s one particular day when I wrote down in my diary that I had the offer of doing medicine or doing three PHD scholarships, all within a few days,” Karl said. “I could’ve gone down the pathway of just being a university academic. But I think my pathway chose me.”
Karl became interested in the world of science as a child, firmly believing that science isn’t a bunch of facts, but a way of trying to understand the world around us.
“The event that I seem to remember, is that I was having a birthday party and somebody gave me an astronomy book, and I just began diving into it and I couldn’t believe how big New South Wales was, Australia was, the earth was, that there’s 300 billion stars in our galaxy and about 400 billion planets… which filled me with a sense of awe and wonder which is never ending!”
Never ending is indeed an accurate description of Karl’s enthusiasm for discovery and achievement. While his achievements stretch across the realms of science, politics, literature, humanitarian work and more, Karl isn’t slowing down any time soon.
“There’s so many more things that I want to do,” Karl said.
Some of the more grander plans include a trip to Madagascar and exploring the remainder of Australian deserts he hasn’t explored yet.
He also plans to delight audiences on May 12th at the Ipswich Libraries Cocktail Hour, believing his talk will have the Ipswich crowd laughing and learning.
“They will laugh and learn, and we’ll be talking all things alcohol, and why at every party there comes a stage when the noise and mood picks up.”
And his advice for young scientists and explorers? “Whatever you do, just jump into there flat out and do it well,” Karl said.
“Do what you love, and if that doesn’t work – modify it!”
He also had an interesting message – try politics. “How do we change the politicians and what we do? Well, become a politician!”
Run by Ipswich Libraries, Cocktail Hour is a sought-after premium event featuring popular celebrity speakers. You can learn more about the Ipswich Libraries’ upcoming events, including Cocktail Hour on their Facebook: facebook.com/IpswichLibrary.
