Scientific celebrity
Encyclopedia
A scientific celebrity
is a person who gains celebrity status in the media by representing their own scientific interests. Such promotion can be self-serving in nature, can be at the behest of governmental or corporate interests or even to promote the science involved.
With every new scientific discovery various people have long been known for their contributions to knowledge, medicine and methods of transportation. Although this phenomenon has undergone a recent upsurgence (coincidental with the rise of celebrity culture
) it is by no means new and the list of scientific celebrities is long.
Many other people have become known to the public as a result of media promotion. Heads of state, heads of governmental units and religious leaders have long enjoyed this attention in representing interests other than their own.
, Patrick Moore
and David Attenborough
have scientific qualifications, however they are primarily known for their own presentations of scientific topics rather than their contributions to the advance of scientific knowledge. Additionally, some celebrities are known for their roles in the media, but not for their work in science, for example Mayim Bialik
, Child star from television show, "Blossom" who has a PhD in neuroscience. For a list of persons who have made major discoveries in the field of science see articles for specific areas of scientific knowledge and discovery.
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
is a person who gains celebrity status in the media by representing their own scientific interests. Such promotion can be self-serving in nature, can be at the behest of governmental or corporate interests or even to promote the science involved.
With every new scientific discovery various people have long been known for their contributions to knowledge, medicine and methods of transportation. Although this phenomenon has undergone a recent upsurgence (coincidental with the rise of celebrity culture
Celebrity culture
A celebrity culture is the structure that influences those deemed to be celebrities.-Brief history of celebrity culture:Any medium can be viewed as a vehicle for creating a celebrity culture. The famous religious books of the world's faiths are replete with examples of individuals who are well...
) it is by no means new and the list of scientific celebrities is long.
Many other people have become known to the public as a result of media promotion. Heads of state, heads of governmental units and religious leaders have long enjoyed this attention in representing interests other than their own.
Media celebrities
Some television presenters such as Richard AttenboroughRichard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
, Patrick Moore
Patrick Moore
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS is a British amateur astronomer who has attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter of the subject, and who is credited as having done more than any other person to raise the profile of...
and David Attenborough
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
have scientific qualifications, however they are primarily known for their own presentations of scientific topics rather than their contributions to the advance of scientific knowledge. Additionally, some celebrities are known for their roles in the media, but not for their work in science, for example Mayim Bialik
Mayim Bialik
Mayim Hoya Bialik is an American actress who also holds a PhD in neuroscience.Her most notable TV roles have been as Blossom Russo on NBC's Blossom and as Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS's The Big Bang Theory.-Early life:...
, Child star from television show, "Blossom" who has a PhD in neuroscience. For a list of persons who have made major discoveries in the field of science see articles for specific areas of scientific knowledge and discovery.
See also
- Brian CoxBrian Cox (physicist)Brian Edward Cox, OBE , is a British particle physicist, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and a professor at the University of Manchester. He is a member of the High Energy Physics group at the University of Manchester, and works on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at...
- Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
- Marie CurieMarie CurieMarie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
- Carl SaganCarl SaganCarl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
- William BucklandWilliam BucklandThe Very Rev. Dr William Buckland DD FRS was an English geologist, palaeontologist and Dean of Westminster, who wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus...
- Richard DawkinsRichard DawkinsClinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
- Stephen Jay GouldStephen Jay GouldStephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation....
- Brian GreeneBrian GreeneBrian Greene is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi-Yau manifolds...
- Susan GreenfieldSusan GreenfieldSusan Adele Greenfield, Baroness Greenfield, CBE is a British scientist, writer, broadcaster, and member of the House of Lords. Greenfield, whose specialty is the physiology of the brain, has worked to research and bring attention to Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.Greenfield is...
- Stephen HawkingStephen HawkingStephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
- Martin Rees
- Kevin WarwickKevin WarwickKevin Warwick is a British scientist and professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom...
- Michael IgnatieffMichael IgnatieffMichael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic and former politician. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011...
- Steve IrwinSteve IrwinStephen Robert "Steve" Irwin , nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian television personality, wildlife expert, and conservationist. Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series which he co-hosted...
- Michio KakuMichio Kakuis an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, the co-founder of string field theory, and a "communicator" and "popularizer" of science...
- Bill NyeBill NyeWilliam Sanford "Bill" Nye , popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, and scientist...
- Neil deGrasse TysonNeil deGrasse TysonNeil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, a science communicator, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a Research Associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History...
- Desmond MorrisDesmond MorrisDesmond John Morris, born 24 January 1928 in Purton, north Wiltshire, is a British zoologist and ethologist, as well as a popular anthropologist. He is also known as a painter, television presenter and popular author.-Life:...