4/25/2025 at 3:17:42 PM
Was he a "citizen scientist"? Could we say he had "tenure" at the Abbey? And weren't many of the universities still effectively branches of the church in the 1800s? Was the Abbey co-equal to any of the other educational institutions? The first lay president at Yale wasn't hired until 1899?And while we're discussing this, are there also undocumented scientists? What if you just have a green card?
I get that they're trying to be welcoming by coining the phrase "citizen scientist", but it seems to open up other debates.
by xhkkffbf
4/25/2025 at 4:04:53 PM
Tesla played with model of electric car in his younger school years. All parts were invented and built by people from Austro-hungarian empire. Long before he was even thinking about going to america. And stationary electric motor is just transformer if you think about it ...Jozef Murgaš also chaplain, invented and was first person to transmit modulated radio waves (voice), few months before vacuum tube was even invented. Marconi was morsecode, Bell was wired phone.
Clergy was essentially what army is nowadays, they gave you education and thus enabling you to rise in socio economic pyramid.
by Calwestjobs
4/25/2025 at 5:26:26 PM
It's not a new phrase. But their use also doesn't really fit with the usual meaning of the term nowadays. (and in that "citizen" is not meant to confer anything about status in a country)by detaro
4/25/2025 at 5:21:55 PM
I also find "citizen scientist" objectionable. It implies that a "citizen scientist" isn't a real scientist, so a modifier needs to be attached. (You don't see that sort of gatekeeping in programming for instance; you don't call someone a "citizen programmer" if they don't have the right background.) Also, as you point out, not everyone is a citizen. Finally, the expression doesn't even make sense since most scientists are citizens. (I should point out that the article didn't coin "citizen scientist"; it is in common use.)by kens
4/25/2025 at 3:47:15 PM
Term originates in 1910 and was applied to many including Edison.by badlibrarian