21–30 of 34 posts
It's a "scribd.com" link, but it looks like now it's smart enough to not bother with the wonky Flash plugin for Mac users, and just send us to the PDF. Yay!
This is a very interesting question, but unfortunately in this case the author's answer is just the standard scientist's whine: "There's not enough funding for my kind of research". Better possible answers include: a) The time isn't right for the emergence of another Einstein just now b) There are several around, we're just not paying attention c) Einstein was really more of a media phenomenon than a physicist, and h…
this is the big one. scientific breakthroughs move in waves, it's not just the right person but also being in the right place and time. However I believe that with all the holes being poked in the Standard Model by dark matter/energy and the fact that we STILL have no idea what gravity actually is, we're headed for another Einstein popping up.
This is a very interesting question, but unfortunately in this case the author's answer is just the standard scientist's whine: "There's not enough funding for my kind of research". Better possible answers include: a) The time isn't right for the emergence of another Einstein just now b) There are several around, we're just not paying attention c) Einstein was really more of a media phenomenon than a physicist, and h…
Actually, to my great surprise, "give my field more money" was only one of his suggestions. It was, in fact, the last suggestion of his, and (at least to my reading) least important. The rest of his answer is quite reasonable, and doesn't even need new money: 1. Seek out people with different points of view and invite them to join the discussion. 2. Give money/influence to individuals, not to large fiefdoms/research…
Wouldn't that be, diversity of informed ideas is important?
Why might it be that people with the background to have an informed opinion on something do not show greater diversity in those opinions? (Or maybe they are there, and politics keeps them out of the inner circle?)
The simple truth is that great scientist are simply a a rare event. How many scientists with the capacity of Einstein have there been? Newton, maybe Aristotle and Archimedes. That's four in the last two thousand years. The capacity of scientists (genius, output or however you define it) most probably follows a powerlaw with a lot of mediocre scientists, a few outstanding (Louis Pasteur, Henry Cavendish, Louis Maxwell…
FFTW
(Feynman for the win)
The simple truth is that great scientist are simply a a rare event. How many scientists with the capacity of Einstein have there been? Newton, maybe Aristotle and Archimedes. That's four in the last two thousand years. The capacity of scientists (genius, output or however you define it) most probably follows a powerlaw with a lot of mediocre scientists, a few outstanding (Louis Pasteur, Henry Cavendish, Louis Maxwell…
"The simple truth is that great scientist are simply a a rare event. How many scientists with the capacity of Einstein have there been? " FFTW (Feynman for the win)
This is a very interesting question, but unfortunately in this case the author's answer is just the standard scientist's whine: "There's not enough funding for my kind of research". Better possible answers include: a) The time isn't right for the emergence of another Einstein just now b) There are several around, we're just not paying attention c) Einstein was really more of a media phenomenon than a physicist, and h…
http://motls.blogspot.com/2005/06/why-no-new-einstein.html
http://motls.blogspot.com/2005/09/why-no-new-einstein-ii.htm...
This one isn't directly addressed to the Smolin piece, but it addresses the "No New Einstein" question:
http://motls.blogspot.com/2007/09/bad-physicists-and-populis...
The simple truth is that great scientist are simply a a rare event. How many scientists with the capacity of Einstein have there been? Newton, maybe Aristotle and Archimedes. That's four in the last two thousand years. The capacity of scientists (genius, output or however you define it) most probably follows a powerlaw with a lot of mediocre scientists, a few outstanding (Louis Pasteur, Henry Cavendish, Louis Maxwell…
How many scientists with the capacity of Einstein have there been? Newton, maybe Aristotle and Archimedes. That's four in the last two thousand years. Look, I admire these guys as much as anyone. But Zombie Einstein himself would come back from the dead and smack you if he heard you claim that, e.g., Maxwell wasn't as smart as he was. Einstein figured out special relativity by staring at Maxwell's equations, after al…
two words: computer science. All our great minds are busy learning how to program.