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Many adults cannot name a scientist

30 June 2009

Dimitri-IvanovskyUSA Today’s Snapshot for 29 June was a survey in which 1000 adults were asked to name a famous scientist. Here are the results:

47% named Albert Einstein
23% could not name anyone
6% named Marie Curie
4% named Louis Pasteur
4% named Thomas Edison

The survey was conducted by L’Oreal, but the methods were not revealed. Therefore it is not possible to determine if the results can be extended to the adult population in general. Nevertheless, the poor showing on naming a famous scientist is an indictment of the science education of those who participated in the survey.

I’m interested in how the readers of virology blog would respond to the question, ‘Name a scientist’ – it doesn’t have to be a famous scientist, and it should not be a relative, or the author of virology blog. Don’t look up someone in a book or online – I’m interested in who you would think of spontaneously. Post your answer – just one scientist – in the comments section, or send it to virology@virology.ws. I’ll reveal the results here in a few weeks.

In attempting to determine how the L’Oreal survey was conducted, I learned about the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Program, an effort to celebrate women who have dedicated their careers to scientific research, and to encourage emerging talent to pursue scientific discoveries. It’s a commendable program, and I do hope they impress upon the recipients of these awards the need to educate the public about their work.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. melissa says

    4 July 2009 at 12:19 am

    James Watson!

  2. Swede says

    4 July 2009 at 10:09 am

    Too many to choose from! However, considering these pandemic times and that the most common advice from Health Officials to the General Public is “Wash your hands frequently”, I can not help thinking about;

    Ignaz Semmelweis

    A simple advice that has saved a whole lot of lives since the 1840s.

  3. Ilse says

    4 July 2009 at 3:12 pm

    Newton was the first one who came to mind, then Galilei.

  4. gera hasse says

    5 July 2009 at 8:46 pm

    Stephen Hawking leaps to mind.

  5. Pat says

    7 July 2009 at 1:36 pm

    John Wheeler. (I'm an astrophysicist.)

  6. jason Halperin says

    7 July 2009 at 5:45 pm

    Paul Farmer

  7. Andrew says

    7 July 2009 at 11:26 pm

    I would say Vincent Racaniello, because I just read this, and it's right there–and there's no discounting that fact. Then I probably would have said Mendel.

  8. אריאל גלולה says

    8 July 2009 at 2:23 am

    Dimitri Iosifovich Ivanovsky the Russian biologist who was the first to discover viruses.

  9. ducker says

    11 July 2009 at 10:03 pm

    Sylvia Earle, Jane Lubchenko

  10. Name says

    12 July 2009 at 11:52 pm

    Darwin, of course.

  11. Name says

    14 July 2009 at 9:58 am

    Sylvia Earl. Eugenie Clark. Ada Lovelace. Rita Colwell. Nancy Chang. Diane Fossey. Marie Curie. Rosalind Franklin. Gertrude Elion. Rita Levi-Montalcini.

    I wonder how much of the general population can name a female scientist?

  12. profvrr says

    14 July 2009 at 10:32 am

    It's a good question. I can tell you what fraction of virology blog
    readers can do so, when I compile the results.

  13. angry_larry says

    14 July 2009 at 12:35 pm

    First scientist to my mind; Louis Pasteur – organic chemist/microbiologist
    “Famous” scientists (who are also women) not mentioned so far: Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, Jane Goodall
    An organic chemist: Carolyn Bertozzi/UC Berkeley
    A microbiologist: Eva Harris/UC Berkeley

  14. G. Lee Wall says

    22 September 2009 at 5:16 pm

    Richard Feynman

  15. G. Lee Wall says

    23 September 2009 at 12:16 am

    Richard Feynman

  16. queen avery says

    9 September 2010 at 4:09 pm

    Hi my name is queen i will like to meet u here is my email prettypet005@yahoo.co.uk

  17. Daro says

    3 September 2011 at 9:06 pm

    Mikolaj Kopernik

  18. Robinanna neibauer says

    7 March 2016 at 10:20 pm

    Nikola Tesla or Rosalind Franklin!

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