Chronos said:
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History will, no doubt, recognize the contributions of Bozo and Marcus to the evolution of modern theory.
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We are not talking about historical contributions to science (both Hawking and Penrose, not to mention Feynman and Einstein) have made splendid contributions!
I don't spend time ranking great men of science but I guess I probably consider Penrose as one of the most creative mathematicians of our time. I can't tell how seriously to take Hawking's current contributions but his insights of the 1970s are among the most important in the theoretical physics of the second half of the 20th.
I don't see how you, Chronos, can have gotten so confused about what I was saying. I admire these men as scientist and mathematician and esteem their very real contributions.
What we were talking about is Hawking
as popular science idol.
In that capacity I do not think he has done science or the public any good.
His popular books have tended to confuse people.
His image resonates with a distorted popular misconception of what scientists are like.
Because he is good "copy" the media and journalists make a big buzz around Hawking at every opportunity. And I have the impression he encourages this.
There have been other Science Celebrities who, IMO, performed that role wonderfully well. Feynman was great BOTH in reality as a scientist and as a mythical science-figure in the public eye. Carl Sagan was a wonderful science celebrity.
These men were not mere short-sighted self-promoters and they used their visibility and media-presence to teach deep valuable lessons to the public about what science is about.
Einstein was a great Popular Idol, as well as being great in the real scientist department.
In my respectful opinion how a science idol uses his or her prominence to give a face to science is important and some people have used their celebrity status well and others have used it selfishly and destructively.
You raised the issue of Sir Roger Penrose. As far as I know he is not a Media Magnet---but I could be mistaken. I never got the impression that he was confusing the public or particularly looking for media attention. So if you are criticising me for being disrespectful of Penrose you are not reading my posts or else you are grossly distorting the situation. I am currently trying to call attention to the Friday 23 July public lecture by Penrose called "Fashion Faith and Fantasy in Theoretical Physics". he is quite a wonderful guy IMHO and the lecture (of which I've heard an online previous version) is a wonderful lecture for general audience.