David Thompson,
You are right up to a point. However, activists choose the scientists they wish to elevate to sainthood based on their utility to the activist cause. You won’t find many who work on nuclear power or genetic modification of food plants in the activist pantheon. Most scientists get little recognition for their actual work because it is hard to understand and progresses in tiny steps. When some of these people start making the press releases of Greenpeace, the lure of the cameras can be hard to resist. Of course, some scientists do actively seek the spotlight by hyping their findings and trying to get on Larry King. Massive egos are probably equally distributed through all professions.
In an interview last week posted at National Review’s Uncommon Knowledge, Thomas Sowell gives the example of Noam Chomsky. He says that Chomsky’s work in linguistics is said to be brilliant but that if Chomsky had stuck to his field, no one would have ever heard of him. He had to go beyond his area of expertise for the recognition he must have desperately wanted.
The activists love elevating such people to celebrity status because it puts them up there with the smart people, even if they understand nothing of the actual work involved. I would love to see the high school chemistry grades of the typical demonstrator.
