Mr Bean did it, Margaret Thatcher did it and the late Yasser Arafat used it to good effect. They may not have stuck with it, but science has proved to be a secure career path for some of the western world's most successful people.
According to Dr William C Harris, director general of Science Foundation Ireland, actor Rowan Atkinson, who plays Mr Bean, is an electrical engineering graduate from Oxford University; Irish comedian Dara O'Briain studied physics and maths at University College Dublin; Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat studied civil engineering, while former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher was a research chemist.
Addressing a Europe Week conference in Galway yesterday, Dr Harris and the Government's chief science adviser, Dr Barry McSweeney, made a strong case for continuing science beyond Junior Certificate level at school.
Currently, about half of all second-level students in Ireland drop science subjects after Junior Certificate, prompting a number of Government initiatives to try and reverse this trend.
Achievements of scientists and engineers underpinned all aspects of people's lives throughout Europe, Dr Harris stressed, and scientific study provided a gateway to almost any career.
Six out of every 10 jobs created in the future would be in the fields of science, engineering or technology, he said, and Ireland was the 15th largest exporter of pharmaceutical and healthcare products globally.
Some 60 per cent of all computer software sold in Europe originated in Ireland, he added. A "Women in Science and Engineering" programme has been initiated by SFI to encourage more women to participate. Minister of State for European Affairs Noel Treacy said that Science Foundation had provided more than €400 million in research support.
The Government's "Discover Science and Engineering" initiative was also making a significant impact at primary and pre-primary levels in school, Mr Treacy added.
The Europe Week conference will be addressed today by Minister for Finance Brian Cowen and former minister Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, who is a member of the European Court of Auditors.
Running with the event is the EU Science Olympiad, involving some 150 secondary school students from 10 European states.