Making space for the next Einstein 🍎
Greetings!
If you came across evidence that contradicted everything you’ve believed in your scientific career to date, would you change your views?
Max Planck wasn’t too optimistic that many of us would when he formulated his principle, commonly known as "Science progresses one funeral at a time.”
Planck thought that established scientists wouldn’t readily adopt big, innovative ideas. Instead, he believed it required a change-over of generations—a fresh batch of scientists who were already familiar with these new ideas from the start.
And though he wasn’t completely wrong, I believe that every scientist can try to ensure that they aren’t a blocker to progress.
Take Planck himself. Back in 1900, he came up with what we now call the quantum theory. Naturally, as a biologist, not a physicist, I had to turn to Google to learn more. From what I can gather, he proposed that electromagnetic energy is emitted or absorbed in discrete units called "quanta."
Then in 1905, Einstein, a young patent clerk at the time, extended the idea. He suggested that light itself is quantized alongside the concept now known as special relativity.
Planck wasn't immediately ready to abandon the classical wave theory of light, but he recognized the value of Einstein's work and helped spread it.
How awesome was Planck, if he was able to remain objective to Einstein's ideas despite them challenging his current views? I find this incredibly inspiring.
Planck’s actions show us that we can make space for new ideas—even if we don’t necessarily agree with them.
Whether you consider yourself a fresh-faced scientist or a more seasoned one, it’s important that we all keep ourselves in check. We need to make sure that we’re still open to new evidence that comes our way.
I don’t know about you, but I definitely wouldn’t want to be known as the one who stopped the world from discovering the next “Einstein.”
'Til the next one!
🔥 “I bet ML isnt as powerful as DOE”
Our Chief Scientific Officer Markus Gershater admits that his first reaction to machine learning wasn’t the most open-minded. As we get older, it’s all too easy to stick with what we know, and it takes real, conscious effort to stay objective. We love to see him keeping himself in check 👏
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For some strange reason all I can think of is Emily Dickinson's poem "I felt a funeral in my brain". Maybe that's what Planck did...