What makes a great scientist?

I’ve been thinking recently as to what makes a great scientist. Of course, I’ve been thinking of this instead of concentrating on my own work, which is Lesson #1 of how to be a good scientist: Stay Focused.

But for reals, what is the metric that you use to judge a researcher that you truly admire? Is it number of papers published? Number of grad students supervised? Or something else, something that you can’t quite attach a number to?

I was listening to a CBC program yesterday on Lord Selkirk (which, by-the-by is a pretty fascinating story) and heard a phrase describing him as having “a mind perched in the clouds, but feet firmly on ground”. Now, this is a somewhat common (and more-somewhat cheesy) phrase that I’ve encountered from time to time and never really gave it a second thought. For some reason, however, the program’s use of this phrase (basically a dreamer who was trying to ‘do good’ while remaining humble and realistic) struck me as the perfect recipe for what I consider a “Great Scientist”, someone who is innovative in their thinking and unselfish in their approach. A great mind that doesn’t get wrapped up in his/her own ego.

A think a good line of evidence for this idea is how one’s feelings towards an admired researcher can change when you discover that they are anything but the type of person I have described above. I have never encountered this problem, but do know several grad students who have met their ‘academic idol’ at a conference only to discover that he/she was a colossal jerk-wad (they describe the experience as akin to asking your favourite baseball player for his autograph, only to be shoved aside by his entourage).

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I recently had the chance to write a letter of support for a former mentor (someone I consider to be a ‘Great Scientist’) who had been nominated for a mentorship award. This was actually a really cathartic experience, as it gave me the chance to express my gratitude towards this mentor who had taken me (with my less-than-stellar transcript) under her wing and taught me how to be a researcher. What really struck me though was that every other letter of support from former students said the same thing, that this mentor valued hard work and pushed her students to be good researchers, but never at the expense of developing strong personal relationships and being compassionate human beings. Even after she had WON the award, this former mentor was quick to defer all praise, saying that she had always been fortunate to have amazing students apply to work in her lab, and that “you can’t make a silk purse out of a cow’s ear, you can only make a silk purse from silk”. Worse yet, she wasn’t just saying this, she truly meant it.

You guys, “I AM A COW’S EAR”. Some days I think I’ve only made it this far in science through a healthy dose of smoke and mirrors. Who knows how long this will last, but in a profession full of constant competition it’s still nice to see that people at the top can keep it real.