Many people believe anything that would comes out of a scientist’s mouth, be it something entirely crazy. There are several cases where scientists proved that sometimes they aren’t concerned with being objective and truthful. Therefore in the past they ventured out and did some hilarious things in the science community. Next time you get to meet someone that claims the science community is boring; these are the stories to share.
Fake Fossils
So basically two people Roderick and Eckhart decided to mess with their colleague Beringer who believed that God put fossils in the ground to troll with all of us. They practically forged fossils with inscriptions, and he bought it all like the dumb fool he was. The best part is that he even wrote a book on it. After he published his book, he found a fossil with his name, which led to the discovery of the fact that he was trolled.
Sir Richard Owen Being a Jerk
This one talks about how petty Richard Owen is. Both were in a race to win the royal medal from the prestigious ‘Royal Society’. When his rival, Mantell pointed out errors in Owen’s paper, he got very angry. Hence, he made himself in charge of the dead dude’s spine in the museum, where he pickled the spine just for the sake of it. This dude desperately needed a hobby if you ask me.
Alan Sokal’s Paper
To call the postmodern science community out, Alan Sokal decided to submit a paper for publishing that was entirely made out of nonsense. But the paper supported postmodernism. So Sokal just wanted to see how objective the postmodern society is. Seems like they fell right into his trap because they ended it publishing it and becoming a disgrace to the entire scientific community as Sokal cackled somewhere in his vigilante lair.
Galileo and the Pope
In a time where you could get stoned to death for believing in the theory that the earth revolves around the sun, Galileo decided to tell this fact Pope. So he told the Pope he’d be writing a book explaining the theories without bias. However, what it turned out to be was that he wrote a book, which thoroughly dissed that idea. It had 3 narrators out of which one was called simplicio (a fancy word for idiot), and it quoted stuff the pope said to Galileo in private. Consequently, he was banned from the public for that stunt.
Electricity
A lot of scientists went wild when they got the basics of electricity figured out. Some electrocuted monks without permission. Others decided to trick thirsty men into getting shocked when they tried to kiss a pretty girl. Similarly, Benjamin Franklin decided to make everything electric ranging from his gate to wine glasses as he watched in pure joy at bodies writhing in pain. Furthermore, even Thomas Jefferson also decided to be a lil jerk to people around him and give them pocket shocks.
Dumping a Thesis in the Ocean
Siegel had a best friend Bessel-Hagen who needed someone to review his thesis. So the poor guy asked Siegel. He later decided that his thesis was too boring for him to waste time on it. So he ended up dumping it overboard and into the ocean where it rots to this day. Eventually the two best friends did make up after Siegal’s realization that he did something wrong and hence planned a trip for the two to Greece.
