http://www.philatelictidbits.com/stamp-collecting/physics-and-stamp-collecting.html Stamp Collecting | Philately | Blog Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:00:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 http://www.philatelictidbits.com/stamp-collecting/physics-and-stamp-collecting.html/comment-page-1#comment-12981 Sean McLean Wed, 22 Sep 2010 02:16:40 +0000 http://www.philatelictidbits.com/?p=463#comment-12981 I should add that in the article, philatelic writer Christopher Moor noted that when Professor Mary Fowler, Rutherford's great granddaughter visited New Zealand (Rutherford's birth place) she said he was "not a genius". "(He) was a man who persevered with incredible concentration," she said. "It was not that he came to things without trying. He had to work very hard." I think this supports my interpretation of what Rutherford meant. Like stamp collectors, scientists collect a myriad pieces of information and endeavour to make some "whole" picture from them. Scientists and stamp collectors are "Birds of a feather", so to speak. But I think she was wrong about him being a genius! Genius is being able to recognise the important fragments of information - and the relationships between them - in a confusing mass of inputs. The sorts of things that "ordinary" mortals miss. That does mean, however, that any one of us has the capability to become a "genius". I should add that in the article, philatelic writer Christopher Moor noted that when Professor Mary Fowler, Rutherford’s great granddaughter visited New Zealand (Rutherford’s birth place) she said he was “not a genius”. “(He) was a man who persevered with incredible concentration,” she said. “It was not that he came to things without trying. He had to work very hard.” I think this supports my interpretation of what Rutherford meant. Like stamp collectors, scientists collect a myriad pieces of information and endeavour to make some “whole” picture from them. Scientists and stamp collectors are “Birds of a feather”, so to speak. But I think she was wrong about him being a genius! Genius is being able to recognise the important fragments of information – and the relationships between them – in a confusing mass of inputs. The sorts of things that “ordinary” mortals miss. That does mean, however, that any one of us has the capability to become a “genius”.

]]> http://www.philatelictidbits.com/stamp-collecting/physics-and-stamp-collecting.html/comment-page-1#comment-12980 Sean McLean Wed, 22 Sep 2010 02:06:49 +0000 http://www.philatelictidbits.com/?p=463#comment-12980 Yes! I saw this remark quoted, without comment, in an article in that great Aussie stamp magazine, "Australian STAMPS Professional", Vol. 4 Issue 7 - website as quoted (but it's not mine). Surely what Rutherford meant was that in science, researchers just collect maybe thousands of bits of information - and then they arrange them into some sort of "whole" and see "the big picture"? Just as in stamp collecting, the philatelist assembles large numbers of stamps and then presents them to tell the history or postal history of some country, culture or aspect of science, knowledge or society. So I don't see the remark as derogatory - it's more of a tribute to the thoroughness and persistence of both scientists and stamp collectors. Yes! I saw this remark quoted, without comment, in an article in that great Aussie stamp magazine, “Australian STAMPS Professional”, Vol. 4 Issue 7 – website as quoted (but it’s not mine). Surely what Rutherford meant was that in science, researchers just collect maybe thousands of bits of information – and then they arrange them into some sort of “whole” and see “the big picture”? Just as in stamp collecting, the philatelist assembles large numbers of stamps and then presents them to tell the history or postal history of some country, culture or aspect of science, knowledge or society. So I don’t see the remark as derogatory – it’s more of a tribute to the thoroughness and persistence of both scientists and stamp collectors.

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