Courage For Progress
Whether or not they can tell you what the equation means or even what the variables stand for, if you mention E=mc2 just about any moderately educated person could tell you that it came from Albert Einstein. Arguably, The Theory of Relativity is Albert Einstein’s greatest legacy. However, in the science community it is debated that Jules Henri Poincare almost developed the special theory of relativity at the same time as Einstein. Regardless of the debate, the fact remains that Einstein’s name is forever attached to this marvelous theory. According to Warwick University Professor of Mathematics, Ian Stewart, Poincare had similar ideas about special relativity on his mind and had written down pertinent equations, but he lacked something that Einstein had: courage. Stewart says, “Einstein was courageous enough to risk his reputation.” In Einstein’s case his courage really paid off.
However, in science courage to risk your reputation does not always pay off like it did for Einstein. The mention of Lamark in a biology classroom immediately brings to mind his discredited hypothesis of heredity involving the inheritance of acquired traits. Since the evidence brought forth from Darwin and others discredited Lamark’s hypothesis, he is merely known for what is sometimes considered a laughable idea. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, like Einstein, had the courage to risk his reputation in order to introduce a hypothesis that could change the view of reality. Unlike Einstein, however, Lamarck’s hypothesis was discredited and he died in poverty and obscurity.
Lamarck’s courage did not go completely unnoticed. He was recognized by some early evolutionists as a great zoologist and a forerunner of evolution. Charles Darwin himself said, “Lamarck was the first man whose conclusions on the subject excited much attention…he first did the eminent service of arousing attention to the probability of all changes in the organic, as well as in the inorganic world, being the result of law, and not of miraculous interposition.” Lamarck’s courage to risk his reputation led to a noteworthy contribution to the evolution of the Theory of Evolution.
The risk of publishing hypotheses is that a scientist could potentially become publicly known as an Einstein or a Lamarck, either a prominent scientific genius or a laughable scientific failure. Despite the personal risk, there is a greater risk to scientific progress if the fear of a damaged reputation persists among scientists. Potentially the Theory of Relativity could have been discovered sooner had Poincare presented his ideas or, conversely, the Theory of Evolution could have been delayed had Lamarck withheld his ideas. Great leaps in scientific progress are made because of scientists like Einstein and Lamarck who have the courage to risk their reputation for scientific progress.
No comments:
Post a Comment