Will There be a Next Genius?

They were not helped by various institutes. Each of these people made private studies, and it seems that they were highly successful, as they made some of the most important discoveries in the world. However, it seems that nowadays the situation has changed quite a lot, as nowadays the scientists are encouraged to work in large groups. It is believed that they will be able to discover more things in this manner, but that might not be true. Things started to change in the ‘50s when the first satellite was launched into space. Ever since then most of the countries have created very large institutes where all the scientists go and collaborate in the hope that they will make the next major discovery which will be able to change the world. However, it has been discovered that the scientific discoveries are rarer because of it.

A study was made on the Nobel Prize winners, and it was discovered that the great minds start to collaborate in most of the cases before they can make any major discovery on their own. They have a desire to make a major discovery and in most of the cases, because they collaborate in order to discover it, they might never manage to achieve the discovery. However, it seems that in comparison to the previous decades, the chances for the scientists to make a major discovery are higher when the researchers are a little bit older. If many of the great scientists made a discovery when they were young, it seems that the current researchers might make a discovery when they are older. There are some who say that the individual genius is not dead.

Adrian Bejan, who is an engineer at the Duke University, believes that the collaboration between the individual and the large institutes is the best way to go, because one can not make a major discovery unless this collaboration happens. He said that there are many scientists who come up with great new ideas, but that they can not materialize these ideas unless they collaborate with the large institutions. In most of the cases the reason why they can not materialize what they created on paper is because they do not have the required money for it. Bejan said that most of the major discoveries in science and other fields which were made so far, were the result of the solitary investigations done by people such as Leonardo da Vinci, Archimedes, Isaac Newton, and so on.

He said that the reason why these people were able to make these discoveries was because the human mind is greater when it works alone. He said that these people wanted to develop these things in order to aid the society. He said that even if collaboration between the scientists exists, they will still be able to make the discoveries thanks to their ingenious thinking. He does not believe that collaboration will change the way in which the scientists think. There are many people who say that the solitary genius is a myth and a lie. Sir Isaac Newton admitted that he would have not been able to make the discoveries which he made if he would have not used the information obtained by the other great minds which existed before him. It is believed that he was referring to Descartes, Aristotle, and others as well. Einstein was influenced by Newton more than many people might think. He used Newton’s law of gravity when he developed the theory of relativity. Einstein collaborated with other scientists when he developed his theory of relativity, and those other scientists helped him with certain calculations and offered him information as well. It seems that behind every genius is a group of other scientists who have provided help one way or the other.

Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei were influenced by Nicolaus Copernicus. Copernicus was the first one who said that the Earth orbits around the Sun, and not vice-versa. He issued this theory in 1500s, period when speaking about such things could be interpreted as heresy. It seems that this is more common in the scientific world than it was previously believed, as the scientists are influenced by other scientists very often. Darwin was influenced by Charles Lyell, as he brought his book about geology when he took the famous trip on the Galapagos Island. The two people who are considered to be the discoverers of the DNA, Francis Crick and James Watson, made the discovery thanks to the theories issued by the chemist Linus Pauling. It seems that being a successful science man depends a lot on the colleagues and on the predecessors. However there are many who believe that other things are important as well; things such as the social, economical, and political situations.

Bejan said that the way in which the scientists conduct their work was changed in 1957 when the first satellite, Sputnik, was launched into space. He said that that was the moment when most of the countries started creating institutions which had the task of encouraging the collaboration between the scientists, in order to achieve discoveries much faster. There was a race going on between the Soviet Union and the United States of America, and both of the countries believed that it would be better if they would use hire numerous scientists for the same task. Bejans said that even when that happened, the individual big thinkers were still there, the only exception being the fact that they were now a part of a larger group. He believes that these scientists might have even been helped by the fact that they could now focus entirely on their task. He said that thanks to the aid of the other scientists, these scientists could now eliminate the flaws from their researches, thus saving lots of precious time.

Bejan believes that the researcher can not work without aid, and he considers that there are two different types of aids one could receive. He could receive help when it comes to performing the time consuming experiments, as they can be done by other fellow scientists, whereas he could work on the main task, and he could receive financial support. He believes that without these two aids, the great scientist can not be very efficient. Sure, he would be able to make many important discoveries, but the process would be very long and time consuming. He believes that the effectiveness of great scientist is not reduced by the fact that he works with other scientists, but on the contrary, he believes that the scientist could only benefit from the support he receives from his colleagues.

He said that contrary to the popular belief, a scientist who shows greatness is not ostracized by the other scientists, but he is praised by them and he receives the recognition he deserves. There are many who believe that the reason why the next Einstein has not been found so far, is because he does not exist, and not because of the groups. They believe that a great mind will be capable of making great discoveries regardless of the situation and of the circumstances.11