March 17th, 2020
We tend to believe that great ideas are created by great geniuses. The genius thinks about a problem, solves it, announces it to the world, and the world is awed by the brilliance of the idea and installs the genius in the pantheon of great human thinkers.
That’s not how it works. In the real world, the success of an idea depends upon a number of side factors. One of these is the salesmanship of the creator. Just being right isn’t enough; you have to get out there and sell, sell, sell. Without a sales job, the greatest idea in the universe will never be noticed.
Another factor is more subtle: is the world ready for the idea? In his seminal work, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn noted that scientific revolutions never took place until scientists perceived a need for such a revolution.
But there are other cases in which geniuses had brilliant ideas, but were ignored because society did not see any need for their ideas. This section is a catalog of such stories.
Charles Babbage, who invented the computer in 1840
Sadi Carnot, the father of thermodynamics
Gregor Mendel, discoverer of the laws of genetics
Leonardo da Vinci, unrecognized inventor
And finally, a man who was ahead of his times, but wrong: Alfred Wegener