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Just been watching the excellent Alien movie and wondered: why would the Nostromo, an innocuous civilian cargo vessel, have a "science officer" on board?

If you need a Science Officer, how about a doctor? A dentist? A surgeon in case one of the crew's appendix bursts?

If not, why not?

Valorum
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Tim Richards
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    Since finding new alien lifeforms is apparently not uncommon in this universe (see for example https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/46806/why-did-the-crew-of-nostromo-not-seem-too-surprised-by-new-alien-life ), then it makes quite a lot of sense to have a science officer on board. – Hans Olo Oct 10 '22 at 15:41
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    Was "Science Officer" a full-time job? Was the officer mainly concerned with keeping the refinery runnning? – Sam Azon Oct 10 '22 at 15:41
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    I mean as a science officer, I assume Ash has a working knowledge of all sciences, including medicine. He provided excellent care to Kane, aside from the minor parasitic infection he unluckily failed to spot. – Paul D. Waite Oct 10 '22 at 16:04
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    Was a science officer concerned with ranging, telemetry and communication? With the propulsion of a ginormous—by the 20th century standards of when the film was made—spaceship? With tests and reasoning about the chemical composition of stuff—atmospheres, dust, organics—the ship may encounter? – Lexible Oct 10 '22 at 16:09
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    As for the lack of a doctor, some of the ships in the franchise feature a fully automated medical bay, no doctor required. I'm thinking of the one from Prometheus, which being a prequel implies that the technology existed in the time of the first movie as well. – Darrel Hoffman Oct 11 '22 at 13:48
  • @DarrelHoffman - The ship has an autodoc, which seems capable of diagnosing and treating most ailments. – Valorum Oct 11 '22 at 18:58
  • Never mind about the Science Officer, why didn't they have an HR Officer? – user38942 Oct 12 '22 at 14:40

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Based on Ash's actions in the early part of the film we can ascertain that the Science Officer is responsible for a range of sciencey things, notably the safety and wellbeing of their very large and expensive refinery as well as orbital mechanics for the Nostromo.

The tug and refinery rotated, performing a massive pirouette in the vastness of space. Light appeared at the stern of the tug as her secondary engines fired briefly.
'Equatorial orbit nailed,' declared Ash. Below them, the miniature world rotated unconcernedly.
'Give me an EG pressure reading.'
Ash examined gauges, spoke without turning to face Dallas. 'Three point four five en slash em squared. . . About five psia, sir.'
'Shout if it changes.'
'You worried about redundancy management disabling CMGS control when we're busy elsewhere?'
'Yeah.'
'CMG control is inhibited via DAS/DCS. We'll augment with TACS and monitor through ATMDG land computer interface. Feel better now?'
'A lot.'

Alien: Official Novelisation

His console contains information about the ship's atmosphere, ensuring that it remains breathable and uncontaminated.

Ash studied his own console. Along with the others, it was independently powered in the event of a massive energy failure such as they were presently experiencing. 'Air in all compartments shows no sign of contamination from outside atmosphere. I think we're still tight, sir.'

He also supports Captain Dallas in deciphering the distress signal.

'The emergency lies elsewhere - specifically, in the unlisted system we've recently entered. We should be closing on the particular planet concerned right now.' He glanced at Ash, who rewarded him with a confirming nod. 'We've picked up a transmission from another source. It's garbled and apparently took Mother some time to puzzle out, but it's definitely a distress signal.'

He also acts as the ship's primary medic after an injury occurs, although he goes to pains to indicate that he's not a doctor.

'Long-term prognosis?'
The science officer looked hesitant. 'I'm not a medical officer. The Nostromo isn't big enough to rate one.'
'Or important enough. I know that. But you're the closest thing we've got.

Valorum
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    That doesn't look right. 3.45 N/m² is 0.0005 psia, not 5. – njzk2 Oct 11 '22 at 11:26
  • So in short, because it sounds cooler than "safety officer" – Chris H Oct 11 '22 at 13:46
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    @ChrisH The US Navy (when I was serving in it) had independent duty corpsmen on destroyers and frigates. Those ships were not big enough to rate a doctor (like a carrier or an amphibious ship) but the IDC was qualified to deal with a certain level of trauma, disease, and injury. – KorvinStarmast Oct 11 '22 at 14:32