Scientist use python for a wide variety of tasks. And python is a great tool for doing science. But scientists are not programmers, and so scientists tend to have a slightly different perspective on python. In this talk I will try to show you how scientist use python as a tool in their daily research.

The first part of the talk will show you by way of example, how we at the Centre for Quantum Technologies use python in different steps in our research, ranging from experiment control and data acquisition to data analysis and preparing data for publication. The second part of the talk will be dedicated to the IPython notebook. Given its ability to combine code with explanations formatted in Markdown and LaTeX and its flexible use, the IPython notebook opens up new ways of making sense of data and sharing the results with collaborators and the wider public.