Scientists – the secret stars

Why researchers are not as hyped as musicians or athletes

Essay by Paulina Czienskowski, freelance journalist who writes for Welt am Sonntag, stern, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, and Berliner Morgenpost

Let’s start with a quiz: who is Takaaki Kajita? Aziz Sancar? Satoshi Omura? Well? No idea? There are probably many who have never heard of these names before. To cut a long story short: these fine ladies and gentleman are scientists active in physics, chemistry, and medicine. Why should their names ring a bell? They all won a Nobel Prize last year.

Japanese physicist Takaaki Kajita, for example, discovered the so-called neutrino oscillations. They show that neutrinos actually have mass. He conducts experiments at the Kamiokande and its successor, the Super-Kamiokande. To a layperson these complicated words have a cryptic ring to them. However they too are affected by these natural (scientific) processes, at least they surround everybody in some way or the other. As evident as this is, most people don’t seem bothered. As long as the world keeps turning, all is well.

Scientists: aren’t they the ones sitting alone in labs for hours on end? Where they go about testing inexplicable phenomena, stare stoically into the sky, or quantify a non-descript particle under the lens of their microscope.

They are the nerds and the loners, the oddballs and outsiders. People that deal unceasingly with a certain intangible thing that produces results which will seldom or never be noticed by the average person. They are scientists.

Their obsession with their respective field of research leads to these clichéd images among the clueless, whereas athletes and singers are admired for their passion. And yet both are groups of people who have fully dedicated themselves to a cause. This false perspective of dividing passionate people into two groups might be a relic of our time at school.

Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin aside, there aren’t many natural scientists that are equally famous as Usain Bolt or Lady Gaga. However, books had to be rewritten because of these old-guard scientists. Research today is more or less based on this existing knowledge. Somebody like, say, Ranga Yogeshwar might also be a physicist, but he is generally perceived as a knowledgeable TV host and not as a prospective Nobelist.

Real scientists do not get on stages to perform effusive gestures. They don’t rip their clothes off like some the more scandalous popstars. They don’t polarize opinions or advertise beauty products. Scientists tinker for weeks, months, years, somewhere among their own kind. At some point they face the world and say: “There’s something in our atmosphere invisible to the human eye. But it is there and it is relevant to our planet.” Almost selflessly, one could say.

It is fairly obvious that the mainstream does not directly identify with elementary particles or neurons. Not many could summarize a theory when put on the spot. However, most people have a strong opinion on the singer Helene Fischer. Music, sports, and the arts are simply our lowest common denominator. Everybody can have an opinion on whether the performance of this year’s Oscar award winner is good or not.

Naturally this is mainly a matter of taste. You are not expected to be able to judge the skills of a professional or the relevance of a cultural contribution. Long story short: in-depth knowledge is not required. In a way this reveals one’s own ignorance and ignorance is not considered to be aesthetic.

The fact that a person has strong passions is far more aesthetic. Whether as a singer or a scientist, a slight obsession and full dedication to the cause is a requirement.  Maybe someday we will a see a physicist rise to popstar fame. Should Takaaki Kajita ever be recognized by the mainstream, maybe his name could make a successful quiz show.