Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Eccentric-looking scientists are always more famous

Movies and TV tell you that brilliant scientists are always frizzy-haired old men:

Exhibit A: Doc Brown














I believe this trend began as a result of Einstein's fame.

Exhibit B: Albert Einstein

















Sure, ideas like matter and energy are the same and that time can slow down are mind-bending, but so are the ideas from quantum mechanics. Nobody knows what Heisenberg looks like because he looked like this:

Exhibit C

















Exhibit D: John Bardeen was the only person to have ever won 2 Noble Prizes in physics, but you never see his face on posters or t-shirts. This is because he looks like a junior high vice principal.























My advice to fame-seeking scientists is if you can't make an important discovery, try to look as wacky as possible. 

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