>> 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.

> 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. 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?)

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.

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On 5/8/2010 4:15 PM, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

>> indeed. Though Einstein himself contributed much to this state of
>> affairs with
>> his famous tongue shot. The prototypical mad scientist.
>
> Ah, but no - that just shows that the dude had a sense of humour.
> (Something which apparently nobody today expects scientists to have...)
>

I thought he did it because he was sick of all of the media attention 
.... Of course, it also created one of the most iconic shots of the 
century.

-- 
~Mike

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Mike Raiford wrote:

> I thought he did it because he was sick of all of the media attention 
> .... Of course, it also created one of the most iconic shots of the 
> century.

Now that's irony! :-D

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On 5/8/2010 5:40 PM, andrel wrote:

>> Ah, but no - that just shows that the dude had a sense of humour.
>> (Something which apparently nobody today expects scientists to have...)
>>
> Oh come on, I am I scientist too...
> Ok, I see what you mean.

What does make one a scientist? Someone once told me with all of the 
things I do I should be a scientist.

... My thought was, "By experimenting with the world around me, and 
observing the effects ... doesn't that by definition make me one?"

Then again, I'm not a professor, I have no college degree, and my career 
choice is "Code Monkey" so, does that exclude me from being a scientist? 
Do I need a career as a researcher to consider myself a scientist?

You see. That simple statement she made threw me into an existential 
crisis ...

I'm socially awkward... but, that only makes me a nerd, not a scientist :)

-- 
~Mike

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> What does make one a scientist? Someone once told me with all of the 
> things I do I should be a scientist.
> 
> ... My thought was, "By experimenting with the world around me, and 
> observing the effects ... doesn't that by definition make me one?"

I would suggest so, yes.

> Then again, I'm not a professor, I have no college degree, and my career 
> choice is "Code Monkey" so, does that exclude me from being a scientist? 
> Do I need a career as a researcher to consider myself a scientist?

You know that there are people who do scientific experiments *about* 
computer programs, right? ;-)

> I'm socially awkward... but, that only makes me a nerd, not a scientist :)

LAMO! Someone give this man a WIN badge! :-D

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On 5/9/2010 8:03 AM, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>
> Hawking I'll give you. (I bet he's *really* fun conversation...)
>

 From what I know of him, (which is to say not much... except he's a 
renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist) he also has a pretty 
wicked sense of humor. I once saw a picture of him with Jim Carey, posed 
so it looked like he was running over his foot with his wheelchair.


-- 
~Mike

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On 5/10/2010 3:12 AM, Invisible wrote:
>> Or Carl Sagan, for that matter.
>
> Who?
>

Inventor of the communications satellite, physicist, cosmologist ... and 
sci-fi writer....

>> Or Dr Hubble.
>
> I've heard of the Hubble Telescope, but I wasn't aware it's actually
> named after somebody...

Of course it was ;P

-- 
~Mike

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On 5/8/2010 5:48 PM, clipka wrote:

> Strangely enough, Einstein himself had a kind of "pop star" status at
> his time. Science was considered sort of "sexy" back then.

Why can't we get back to putting people who actually contribute to the 
better understanding of the world around us back on the pedestal instead 
of placing vacuous celebrities and sports stars on a pedestal?



-- 
~Mike

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>> Hawking I'll give you. (I bet he's *really* fun conversation...)
> 
>  From what I know of him, (which is to say not much... except he's a 
> renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist) he also has a pretty 
> wicked sense of humor. I once saw a picture of him with Jim Carey, posed 
> so it looked like he was running over his foot with his wheelchair.

And then there was that advert [I forget what for]. It featured him 
floating in space talking about something or other. It ended with

"Peeeople offten arsk me hwat the seekret of the umniverse is. Wel, it's..."

and then a stray asteroid hits his wheelchair, sending it spinning.

"...oww bummmmer!"

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>> Strangely enough, Einstein himself had a kind of "pop star" status at
>> his time. Science was considered sort of "sexy" back then.
> 
> Why can't we get back to putting people who actually contribute to the 
> better understanding of the world around us back on the pedestal instead 
> of placing vacuous celebrities and sports stars on a pedestal?

There's more of the latter?

They're cheaper to have around?

It's easier for the general public to comprehend a man kicking a hollow 
lump of cow hide than the concept that time and space are subjective?

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