tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13869903.post7646150771426922285..comments2024-03-29T02:45:10.096-05:00Comments on nanoscale views: New big science prizes - time for nominations and opinionsDouglas Natelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13340091255404229559noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13869903.post-29064974055413722832013-09-12T13:59:49.174-05:002013-09-12T13:59:49.174-05:00I have mixed feelings about these prizes. On the o...I have mixed feelings about these prizes. On the other hand, they liberate the recipients financially, which, I think, is a good thing, because it allows at least these people to do truly original research and think big instead of chasing grants. On the other hand, these prizes create a culture of hero worship, which I feel is detrimental to science. First of all because it creates fashions out of the research of the Nobel prize winners which homogenizes the research. Secondly, because it, paradoxically, discourages young people from science when they see these big thinkers blown out of proportion by the media and think that to make remarkable research, you have to be some sort of superhuman.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com