{"id":613,"date":"2014-11-11T14:49:49","date_gmt":"2014-11-11T12:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/boboh\/?p=613"},"modified":"2014-11-11T17:59:39","modified_gmt":"2014-11-11T15:59:39","slug":"the-breakthrough-prize-doesnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/boboh\/2014\/11\/11\/the-breakthrough-prize-doesnt\/","title":{"rendered":"The Breakthrough Prize Doesn’t"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday the recipients of next year’s Breakthrough Prize<\/a> were announced. We’re told that these are meant to “elevate scientists to rock-star status<\/a>” and to “inspire the next generation of scientists”<\/a>. If that’s the aim, then they are going to be a dismal failure.
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\nOne reason for this failure is that the prize is given out to too many people at once. So the news becomes “big prizes given out”, rather than “X wins big prize”. If the point is to honour scientists, then the format shouldn’t hide them. The use of celebrity doesn’t help either, as that becomes the news focus. The BBC’s coverage<\/a> takes 6 paragraphs to mention any of the winners, with only 4 paragraphs given over to the prize recipients (it ends with Athene Donald<\/a> being rather critical. Was she coached by Dr. Aust<\/a>?). The Guardian takes 7 paragraphs to mention the winners, but at least it lists the winners at the end of the piece.<\/p>\n

Of course there are real rock stars of science, but I’m not sure the Breakthrough Prize really helps to showcase them. Partly because real rock stars look like this…<\/p>\n