Comments on: Public Intellectuals

By: Chanda

Chanda — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:28:13 +0000

I have to second Neil deGrasse Tyson. And Stephen Hawking. I have found Brian Greene to be sort of orthogonal to my taste (stylistically), but I can see how compelling arguments for him could be made.

As for mathematicians, Ian Stewart has written a number of wonderful books on mathematics for the public that have sold fairly well. I don’t see his name on the list, however, which is too bad. Pity he hasn’t stirred up enough controversy to have the press banging down his door. (sarcasm)

Anyway, it sounds like this list was more about who is in fashion and less about who has made substantive lasting contributions to discourse in and out of the academy.

By: Orion

Orion — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:36:39 +0000

Neil deGrasse Tyson

By: Not Even Wrong » Blog Archive » This and That

Not Even Wrong » Blog Archive » This and That — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:10:52 +0000

[...] Carroll and various of his anonymous commenters are upset that Lee Smolin made it onto a list of Top 100 Public Intellectuals, with some suggesting that Kaku deserves to be there [...]

By: John Baez

John Baez — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:58:58 +0000

negentropyeater writes:

Is there an anglo-saxon obsession for lists ?

I don’t know if the obsession for lists is “Anglo-Saxon” – I would have thought it was American. Think of Dave Letterman’s “top ten” lists, or Irving Wallace’s The Book of Lists.

The best thing about lists is that they’re good for starting discussions, often involving what was left off the list.

By: John Merryman

John Merryman — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:16:08 +0000

Only one computer scientist?

I thought the medium was the message.

How about Carver Mead?

By: Neil B.

Neil B. — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:28:21 +0000

negentropyeater, obsession with lists is said to be “anal-retentive”, to use a term that is officially a clinical category despite the snicker factor. The Anglo-Saxon-Teutonic culture is supposed to be rather anal-retentive, especially due to Calvinist influence FWIW. As for scientists being said not to have much influence or to be widely read, well, they are more read than philosophers qua philosophers are. Who can now name modern equivalents of Bertrand Russel, Heidegger, not to mention Wittgenstein, or Kant, Hume etc? Sure Dennett is on the list, but he’s a hack on a hatchet job mission of denying even that conscious experience really exists etc.

By: negentropyeater

negentropyeater — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 10:20:24 +0000

Is there an anglo-saxon obsession for lists ?
Pardon my being French, I don’t understand the point of it.
Maybe someone can explain.

By: Gordon

Gordon — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 02:18:44 +0000

If self-promotion and half-baked ideas are criteria, then Lee Smolin fits the list.
Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose, and Freeman Dyson obviously
belong on the list. If self-promotion and arrogance are criteria, then,
of course, James Hansen belongs; but if he makes the list, be sure to
place Wheeler’s student, Fred Singer there. Lovelock hasnt really appeared much
in public since GAIA. Wilson and Diamond are fine. Perhaps Brian Greene and Michio Kaku.
Sandy: Smolin is “a pretty good ambassador for physics” ??—didn’t you mean
“isn’t” . I assume that was a typo.
Hmmm and Jennifer Ouellette, of course….:)

By: Sandy

Sandy — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:09:18 +0000

The sad thing is, I doubt the list creators actually read the works of L. Smolin, or E.O. Wilson, or the couple other hard scientists. They probably just found the names that were most in the news the last year or so. It is a sad fact that scientists don’t affect the public discourse much, something we have discussed on CV. When scientists do talk to the press, the inevitable land mines and misunderstandings lead to lots of criticism from colleagues. The only solution is just to lighten up and be more open with less infighting. Stick together, knowing the press always gets it wrong in some way.

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:22:39 +0000

Not to mention Bonk. But A Brief History of Time, The Elegant Universe, The First Three Minutes -- these are all pretty cool titles.