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Lessons from the 100 most influential scientists in history | Kasra's Blog

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It’s effectively a compilation of 100 mini-biographies of the most influential scientists in history. Here are my notes and reflections from reading it. Everyone wants to be a revolutionary but no one wants to embarrass themselves. Historically, making claims that ran counter to received wisdom could land you in serious trouble—we’ve all heard about how Galileo was sentenced to house arrest for arguing that the earth orbits the sun. Even today though, in the absence of censorious Catholic Church, there are real social costs to advocating unconventional theories. It’s not so much that you’ll be put under house arrest, but people (your colleagues in science, superiors, and funding instutitions) will certainly give you a funny look, and e.g. pass you up for research grants or tenure. I recently learned of an amusing anecdote along these lines from Michael Levin, who has been doing paradigm-shifting work on bioelectricity. Levin’s proposals for an early experiment—to modulate the membrane

For more writing, see my blog Bits of Wonder . A few months ago I very randomly stumbled upon this book: It’s effectively a compilation of 100 mini-biographies of the most influential scientists in history. Here are my notes and reflections from reading it. Being a revolutionary requires taking serious personal risks. # Everyone wants to be a revolutionary but no one wants to embarrass themselves. Historically, making claims that ran counter to received wisdom could land you in serious trouble—we’ve all heard about how Galileo was sentenced to house arrest for arguing that the earth orbits the

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