- Gentleman scientist
A gentleman scientist is a
scientist with aprivate income who can pursuescientific study independently as he wishes without excessive external financial pressures.History
Self-funding scientists were more common in the days before large-scale
government funding was available, up to theVictorian era , especially inEngland . Many early fellows of theRoyal Society inLondon were gentleman scientists. The position significantly reduced during the 20th century as other forms of science funding increased.Benefits and drawbacks
Self-funding has the disadvantage that funds may be more restricted, however it has the advantage of avoids a number of inconveniences such as teaching obligations, administrative duties, writing grant requests to funding bodies. It also permits the scientist to have greater control over research directions, as funding bodies direct grants towards interests that may not coincide with that of the scientist. Furthermore,
intellectual property of the inventions belongs to the inventor and not the employer.Modern-day gentleman scientists
Modern-day equivalents are
Stephen Wolfram who funds his own independent research through the sale ofMathematica software,Craig Venter ,Julian Barbour ,Aubrey de Grey andBarrington Moore .Notable Gentleman Scientists
*
Charles Darwin 's father helped fund him to be agentleman scientist in Victorian times.
*Robert Boyle
*Antoine Lavoisier
*Goldsworthy Gurney
*George Frederick Kunz
*Benjamin Franklin
*Henry Cavendish See also
*
Natural philosophy
*Royal Society
*Scientific method
*Herbert Spencer
*Age of Enlightenment
*17th century philosophy
*Renaissance
*Scientific revolution References
* Martello, Robert, [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/victorian_studies/v042/42.4martello.html The Life and Times of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney: Gentleman Scientist and Inventor, 1793–1875 (review)] , "Victorian Studies", Volume 42, Number 4, Summer 1999/2000, pp. 688–690.
Indiana University Press .
* Porter, Dale H., "The Life and Times of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, Gentleman Scientist and Inventor, 1793–1875". 1988.Lehigh University Press , ISBN 0-934223-50-5.
* Jon Cohen, "Science", Vol. 279. no. 5348, pp. 178 - 181, DOI: 10.1126/science.279.5348.178, Scientists Who Fund Themselves [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/279/5348/178]
* Jonathan Keats, "Craig Venter is the future"Salon.com Dec. 2007. [http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/12/05/craig_venter/index_np.html]
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