Have any famous or well known scientists come to this site?

[Hornbein]

I think this is the best way to describe such people. I'll refrain from going on a full blown tirade.

I once heard Kaku hold forth on quantum computing. I thought, "dang, I don't know much but it's more than this guy's got." His grooming is however far superior to mine, so I guess he deserves his fame.

 

[MidgetDwarf]

View attachment 319931

Who is the blonde!. Need to know for research purposes.

 

[julian]

Appearances can be deceiving, Mr Bean has a master's degree in electrical engineering.

 

[julian]

I've just remembered, there's this BBC children's programme called Blue Peter which featured the "science sisters" for a while. I was actually doing my PhD with one of the science sisters at the time! It was so surreal to see her on TV. Blue Peter encouraged you to write in with questions. I remember writing a letter in my best crayon handwriting - some question to do with renormalisation of the non-linear sigma model. It didn't get featured on the programme.

The science sisters ended up breaking up - possibly after one of the sisters marrying one the resident experts on the programme. I cant remember the details.

 

[PhDeezNutz]

Who is the blonde!. Need to know for research purposes.

I have 2 approximate solutions to your question. PM’d. If you get a more precise solution let me know.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Seems pretty clear to me:

Is Lev Okun famous?
Is Jack Steinberger?
Is Rush Holt?
Is Rick Field?

Will everybody agree?

 

[BWV]

What about all the people who joined to share their pet theories, were banned and their discoveries were later vindicated and they became known as the next Einstein?

 

[jack action]

Is Lev Okun famous?
Is Jack Steinberger?
Is Rush Holt?
Is Rick Field?

Will everybody agree?

The point is that you asked if "famous" and "celebrity" are supposed to be synonymous in this context. The OP clearly says "famous OR well-known" and "well-known" is clearly a synonym for "celebrity".

But to answer your question:

Lev Okun -> Famous? Probably among his peers; Well-known? I would say no.
Jack Steinberger -> Famous and well-known? I think having a Nobel Prize puts you in both categories.
Rush Holt (Jr.) -> Famous? I don't know; Well-known? Being a politician at the federal level for 16 years puts you in that category.
Rick Field -> Famous and well-known? I would say no. But his sister is, although not a physicist.

 

[berkeman]

Jack Steinberger

Fascinating biography!

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1988/steinberger/biographical/

 

[dsaun777]

68 cites isn't "didnt pan out". It's "the community found it uninteresting". One can always fit the SM into a big enough group. The trick is to find a group that makes the theory restrictive enough to make predictions,. To pick another theory that "didn't pan out", Pati-Salam had 3000 or so cites. The difference is that the physics community found that paper interesting. (It taught the world how to create GUTs)

There are a half dozen or dozen people on PF with a stronger publishing record. Do they nolt count because they aren't "surfer dudes"? The OP should clarify. (But he seems to have wandered away)

Sorry, I am back now. Thanks for all the responses I was unaware of the scientists that have visited here. Very cool!! And I am interested in those who are well known to the general public as well as any scientist that has a big reputation among their peers. I am impressed that Brian Cox and Sean Carroll paid a visit here even if they were just flogging a book. I just would like to see people of all walks of the physics/science community, either BBC-special famous or highly published scientist, be apart of this forum. It would make it a cooler place for aspiring young scientists to hang out if there was some well known names that they ask questions to. Not that any of you who already do so aren't cool.

 

[strangerep]

[...] It would make [PF] a cooler place for aspiring young scientists to hang out if there was some well known names that they ask questions to.

That's probably why they don't stick around.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Fascinating biography!

There's more.

His Nobel prize medal is in the trophy case of New Trier High School, in suburban Chicago. He traded it for a sweatshirt (which he wore constantly, weather permitting)

 

[berkeman]

Wow.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

even if they are media sl##\vee##ts.

I've read that Kaku makes around $25,000 for a typical TV appearance.

 

[Tom.G]

I just would like to see people of all walks of the physics/science community, ...... be apart of this forum.

That's probably why they don't stick around.

Interesting typo, @dsaun777 got his wish. ('spaces' do count!)

 

[MidgetDwarf]

my assumption that people who popularize physics, do not frequent these forums largely due that the population may learn that their favorite tv personality, book writer, etc really does not know physics that well. which would lead to loss of sales and markability.

 

[f95toli]

It is also worth keeping in mind that scientists that are frequently on TV (and therefore famous) are typically doing this as part of their job, it is not something they are necessarily doing in addition to a regular career in science. I suspect it is quite hard to run a regular research group if you have to spend in some cases several months per year shooting a TV show.

Producers of a TV show are not going to pick the "best" scientist in a field to present a show aimed at a general audience; they will primarily want someone who is a good communicator. This in turn means that the "skillset" needed to be successful can be quite different. Communicating science well is not easy, and doing so efficiently often means turning it into more or less a full time job.

Also, some of the more famous UK TV scientists have at various times been appointed to special chairs where their main job was specifically to ommunicate science to the public; these positions are often called "professor in public understanding" or similar.
See e.g.
https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/professorship-public-engagement/

Some of these are quite prestigious, e.g., the current Oxford Simonyi professor (first held by Dawkins) is now Marcus du Sautoy.

 

[jim mcnamara]

Temporarily locked.

 

[jedishrfu]

Garrett Lisi used to hang in here.

I once mailed him a comment about one of his E8 lectures. In it, he was at a loss for describing E8 in a simple manner for laypeople. I suggested the Eight Ball toy as an example and he responded saying he liked the analogy.

 

[berkeman]

Temporarily locked.

An off-topic cat fight has been deleted from the thread. Any further cat fights will result in temp bans for the kittens.

Thread is reopened. Have a nice day.

 

[dsaun777]

An off-topic cat fight has been deleted from the thread. Any further cat fights will result in temp bans for the kittens.

Thread is reopened. Have a nice day.

I missed the cat fight. Did it involve any famous scientists/physicists?

 

[dsaun777]

I've read that Kaku makes around $25,000 for a typical TV appearance.

He must be a millionaire.

 

[Ibix]

I missed the cat fight. Did it involve any famous scientists/physicists?

I was going to do cat puns on famous physicists, but the only one I can think of is Sir Isaac Mewton.

 

[dsaun777]

I was going to do cat puns on famous physicists, but the only one I can think of is Sir Isaac Mewton.

Schrodinger's cat fight.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

He must be a millionaire.

He is.

Note that Kaku co-authored the foundational paper on string field theory. So he's no slouch.

I see people like him, Sagan, and other people who bring the wonders of science to the public, as critical to the foundations of science. They not only bring attention to the subject, which helps to drive funding for research, they also help to inspire the next generation of scientists! You need people like this to engage the public and to fire the imaginations of young people.

If they screw up or overstep their boundaries from time to time, oh well. Star Trek was pure fantasy yet it inspired countless dreamers to become real scientists and engineers. Heck, the guy who designed the first deep-space ion propulsion system got the idea from Star Trek! So I say, let the dreamers dream. It is a part of the process of forging new frontiers.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Bruce Maccabee made some posts here. He has been a TV regular for decades.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Maccabee

I'm sure there were mixed feelings as he is an optical physicist and a big name in UFO research. He got involved in some UFO discussions. We had a forum for such things back then.

 

[dsaun777]

If you are willing to consider infamous as well, I know Valery Fabrikant came around for a few posts about 10 years ago.

Isn't he in jail?

 

[jack action]

Isn't he in jail?

Yep! When I saw his handle, I was wandering where I knew that name from until it hit me. He started one or two threads, fetching comments for a paper he wrote. I don't even think anyone responded back.

I don't know if anyone really knew who he was, but I went to the University he is now known for, in the very department he was working, taught by his colleagues, just a few years after the sad event occurred. It is a name that leaves a mark.

 

[PhDeezNutz]

Canadian jails give you internet access?

 

[berkeman]

Canadian jails give you internet access?

And Fridays are movie nights.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I don't even think anyone responded back.

Who would dare?

 

[jack action]

Canadian jails give you internet access?

He had his own website.

But to answer your question:

Internet use in prisons allows inmates to communicate with the outside world. Much like the use of telephones in prisons, the use of the internet under supervision, for various purposes, is approved in 49 U.S. correctional systems and five Canadian provinces.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I thought Canada had only federal prisons and provincial jails. Am I wrong?

I'd hate to get sentenced to a stint in Yellowknife. "Good news! Summer is on a weekend this year!"

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Appearances can be deceiving, Mr Bean has a master's degree in electrical engineering.
View attachment 320025

I thought all EEs look like that?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I see people like him, Sagan, and other people who bring the wonders of science to the public, as critical to the foundations of science. They not only bring attention to the subject, which helps to drive funding for research, they also help to inspire the next generation of scientists! You need people like this to engage the public and to fire the imaginations of young people.

In fact, now that I think about it, there is a quote that comes to mind.

PF started in the spring of 2001. I was taking Physics II in high school my senior year. The semester was ending and I found myself getting a “D” in the class. I badly needed at least a “C” to minimize the impact on my overall GPA. Through the year I gained mass interest in the Internet, web designing, and community building. My interest in physics was also sparked by popular physics books by Michio Kaku, Brian Greene, Stephen Hawking’s and Paul Davies. So I thought of proposing the idea of creating a useful physics community on the web as an extra credit project to my physics teacher.

- Greg
Reference: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/about-physics-forums/

So the popularizers of physics helped inspire Greg to start Physics Forums.