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On Tue, 11 May 2010 09:11:59 +0100, Invisible wrote:
>>> Ask some random person "who is Einstein?" and they'll instantly know
>>> he was a world-famous scientist.
>>>
>>> Ask somebody who Richard Dawkins is and see how many of them actually
>>> have any clue. (I've only heard of him because I read the book he
>>> wrote.)
>>
>> Well, again, he's written several, so which did you read?
>
> Uh... I can't actually remember the title now. Let me go check...
>
> ...OK, the copy on his website has different cover art [sigh], but I
> believe it was Climbing Mount Improbable.
OK, so that's one book. The more important works that he wrote had to do
with genetics.
>> But in my circles, Richard Dawkins is quite well know. So's Jane
>> Goodall, for that matter.
>
> My point being that you don't need to be in any particular "circles" to
> know who Einstein or Newton is.
Well, you assume everyone has heard of them. There's probably some guy
living in a little village in a remote part of Africa who's never heard
of either of them.
> Even very small children have heard the
> tale of how Newton was hit on the head by an apple. (I wonder if that
> myth actually happened?)
It didn't; there was a bit on an episode of QI this series that talked
about the myth.
> Everybody has heard of Archimedies, even if they're not sure exactly
> what he did.
>
> Unfortunately, there's nobody alive today of quite the same stature -
> except perhaps Steven Hawking.
Again, Jane Goodall probably fits that bill. If we counted people who
have lived in our lifetimes, Carl Sagan. Vint Cerf, Sir Tim Berners-Lee,
both of whom I previously mentioned, are also quite well known.
Jim
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