What do Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray, or Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, or Newton and Leibniz, or Joseph Priestley and Carl Wilhelm Scheele, or indeed Galileo in Italy, Scheiner in Germany, Fabricius in Holland and Harriott in England all prove?
“Scientific genius is not a person who does what no one else can do; he or she is someone who does what it takes many others to do. The genius is not a unique source of insight; he is merely an efficient source of insight.”
In the New York Times, Malcolm Gladwell explores the phenomena of multiple insights being discovered by more than one person at a time in history. To what extent are scientific discoveries inevitable? Great article that spans from dinosaurs to telephones and back, challenging our common understanding of invention and its origins. In the article, Gladwell offers an inside look at Intellectual Ventures, a hodgepodge think tank made up of innovators and geniuses of all walks, the brightest of the brightest in medicine, science, and technology.
More here, at the NYTimes page.
The image comes from here, where you can see the whole evolution, via NotCotÂ
