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What’s behind the revolutionary ideas in human history? Take our quiz to find out if you have misplaced ideas about scientific pioneers and how big ideas are generated.
The theory of evolution revolutionized the history of ideas. But what picture do you have of Darwin?
A. He was a hard-working man who spent many years finding his own way as he built on the thinking of other experts and specialists.
B. He was a mad scientist who performed countless experiments on the animals in the private zoo he built.
C. He was a genius who had a hunch about evolution when looking at the beaks of birds.
Right !
Answer A: An interval of 20 years passed between the time when Darwin developed his theory of natural selection and the publication of On the Origin of Species. Darwin devoted those two decades to comparing his ideas with those of his fellow biologists and paleontologists during an extensive correspondence. He also used the intervening years to flesh out his arguments so that he could avoid the charge of heresy being leveled at his work. Darwin was one of the first great scientists to acknowledge the importance of winning acceptance for one’s ideas.
# An idea is a long process
# An idea is a long process
Wrong !
Answer A: An interval of 20 years passed between the time when Darwin developed his theory of natural selection and the publication of On the Origin of Species. Darwin devoted those two decades to comparing his ideas with those of his fellow biologists and paleontologists during an extensive correspondence. He also used the intervening years to flesh out his arguments so that he could avoid the charge of heresy being leveled at his work. Darwin was one of the first great scientists to acknowledge the importance of winning acceptance for one’s ideas.
# An idea is a long process
# An idea is a long process
What is “Eroom’s Law”?
A. The ethical rules that apply to virtual collaborative spaces.
B. Moore’s Law in mirror writing.
C. The second law of thermodynamics, which introduces the concept of entropy, a state of disorder resulting from any real transformation.
Right !
Answer B: Eroom’s Law was devised by a specialist in innovation financing. It initially described the decline of R&D in the pharmaceutical sector but has subsequently been used to explain the 40-year stagnation of the entire spectrum of breakthrough ideas. The reasons behind this phenomenon include the incremental nature of innovations; the gradual tightening of regulations; and the fact that research projects are concentrated on complex, unfulfilled needs, which results in high failure rates.
# More knowledge + more money = more ideas
# More knowledge + more money = more ideas
Wrong !
Answer B: Eroom’s Law was devised by a specialist in innovation financing. It initially described the decline of R&D in the pharmaceutical sector but has subsequently been used to explain the 40-year stagnation of the entire spectrum of breakthrough ideas. The reasons behind this phenomenon include the incremental nature of innovations; the gradual tightening of regulations; and the fact that research projects are concentrated on complex, unfulfilled needs, which results in high failure rates.
# More knowledge + more money = more ideas
# More knowledge + more money = more ideas
For the futurologist Jonathan Huebner, the year 1873 has a special place in the history of ideas that have changed the world. Why?
A. It was the year a treatise on electricity and magnetism was published by James Clark Maxwell, the father of modern physics.
B. It was the year that heralded the birth of a “boom in ideas” that we’re still enjoying today.
C. It was the beginning of the end of big ideas.
Right !
Answer A and (especially) C: By comparing the growth in the number of major innovations with the growth in the world population, Huebner realized that post-1873, the flow of transformative ideas had begun to slow down. After this pivotal year, the development of large technological and scientific advances made increasing demands on human resources. And even more demands on money: Compared to fluctuations in world GDP per capita, the drop has been 2.5 times faster.
# The world has never seen so many big ideas
# The world has never seen so many big ideas
Wrong !
Answer A and (especially) C: By comparing the growth in the number of major innovations with the growth in the world population, Huebner realized that post-1873, the flow of transformative ideas had begun to slow down. After this pivotal year, the development of large technological and scientific advances made increasing demands on human resources. And even more demands on money: Compared to fluctuations in world GDP per capita, the drop has been 2.5 times faster.
# The world has never seen so many big ideas
# The world has never seen so many big ideas
In 1969, a student by the name of Hud Freeze discovered a bacterium in a sample of water from the boiling springs in Yellowstone. What was his reaction?
A. It’s funny that it was me, with a name like Freeze, who discovered something living in water that was so hot.
B. He drank a bit of the culture broth to see what it tasted like.
C. He tried to understand how this bacterium was able to survive in such a hostile environment by telling himself that it might be useful to someone one day.
Right !
Answer C: Although Freeze’s research with his supervisor, a Prof. Brock, was largely driven by curiosity, Freeze made a point of making his discovery public, thinking that one day it could be important. And he was right: The Yellowstone bacterium meant that Kary Willis, the future Nobel laureate for chemistry, was able design a crucial polymerase chain reaction for diagnosing pathologies in the presence of DNA fragments. This is the method that the all-too-famous PCR tests are based on. Big ideas nearly always consist of new combinations of old discoveries.
# More knowledge + more money = more ideas
# More knowledge + more money = more ideas
Wrong !
Answer C: Although Freeze’s research with his supervisor, a Prof. Brock, was largely driven by curiosity, Freeze made a point of making his discovery public, thinking that one day it could be important. And he was right: The Yellowstone bacterium meant that Kary Willis, the future Nobel laureate for chemistry, was able design a crucial polymerase chain reaction for diagnosing pathologies in the presence of DNA fragments. This is the method that the all-too-famous PCR tests are based on. Big ideas nearly always consist of new combinations of old discoveries.
# More knowledge + more money = more ideas
# More knowledge + more money = more ideas
What is halicin?
A. A treatment named as a tribute to HAL, the CNRS’s open scientific communication platform, whose inventor found a missing ingredient.
B. A molecule named after HAL 9000, the computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
C. A molecule obtained by chance by combining hydrogen (H), aluminum (Al) and iodine (I) atoms.
Right !
Answer B: Halicin is a powerful antibiotic that was discovered by an algorithm “trained” by a team of researchers from MIT and Harvard to mine a database of 6,000 drug compounds in pursuit of specific antibacterial properties. It was a task that would have taken human beings months, but took the machine only minutes.
# After the Great Stagnation, the Great Acceleration
# After the Great Stagnation, the Great Acceleration
Wrong !
Answer B: Halicin is a powerful antibiotic that was discovered by an algorithm “trained” by a team of researchers from MIT and Harvard to mine a database of 6,000 drug compounds in pursuit of specific antibacterial properties. It was a task that would have taken human beings months, but took the machine only minutes.
# After the Great Stagnation, the Great Acceleration
# After the Great Stagnation, the Great Acceleration
What do the Humboldt Foundation and the French National Lottery have in common?
A. They select their winners at random.
B. They were founded in the same year.
C. They are both involved in gambling addiction research.
Right !
Answer A: Selecting which scientific projects will be awarded funding is very difficult, and many decision makers feel that there are no good criteria. To circumvent the problem, some research organizations are opting for random drawings. This is the case at not just the Humboldt Foundation but also the University of Wellington. The process also appeals to candidates, who fell less disappointed if not selected, since the winner is designated at random.
# The Great Acceleration is everybody’s business
# The Great Acceleration is everybody’s business
Wrong !
Answer A: Selecting which scientific projects will be awarded funding is very difficult, and many decision makers feel that there are no good criteria. To circumvent the problem, some research organizations are opting for random drawings. This is the case at not just the Humboldt Foundation but also the University of Wellington. The process also appeals to candidates, who fell less disappointed if not selected, since the winner is designated at random.
# The Great Acceleration is everybody’s business
# The Great Acceleration is everybody’s business
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