An interesting story on Slate.com takes this, the 400th anniversary of
Galileo Galilei’s first telescope, to
wonder why we call him by his first name. After all, its subhead points out, “We don’t go around saying ‘Albert’ discovered relativity.” (Briefly, it’s “because that's how he referred to himself.”)
But reading it, I wondered if we’d ever have another Galileo. Or, for that matter, if we’d ever see another Albert (Einstein) or even another Stephen (Hawking). As science becomes increasingly devoted to group work, with whole labs and teams making discoveries instead of individuals, is it likely a single scientist will ever be responsible for as much as these luminaries were?
It’s a question I remember asking just over 10 years ago, to the then-director of the
Buehler Planetarium in Davie, Florida, when I was just a wee high school volunteer. Well, actually, I asked her who the next Einstein or Hawking might be, and she said it seemed pretty unlikely we’d see anyone of their caliber willing to go it alone again. Over the years, I’ve come to agree that that’s how things seem to be going.
But can that really be true? No more super-famous, game-changing scientists? What about Neil deGrasse Tyson, the six-time guest on
The Colbert Report? Or even Carl Sagan, arguably the most successful popularizer of science ever? Both are pretty super-famous dudes, and both legitimately advanced science and have made significant contributions to their fields.
Well, great as they are (and as much as I love them), their fame is more the result of their efforts to popularize science, and not so much the science itself. These guys, in addition to being scientists, are authors and public speakers, but Einstein pretty much just did physics and an occasional patent office clerkship. And sure, Galileo did more than just build his telescope and work out some physics, but it’s his science that makes him memorable.
So what do you think? Will no more groundbreaking work come from a single genius? Or will we see another of Einstein’s or Galileo’s ilk? If so, can you name any contemporary candidates?