People often ask me why I persisted in doing research on a subject that was so controversial. I frequently respond by telling them that only a few scientists are granted the great fortune to pursue topics that are so new and different that only a small number of people can grasp the meaning of such discoveries initially.
Interpretation
Persistence in controversial research can lead to groundbreaking discoveries despite initial skepticism.
In this quote, Stanley B. Prusiner reflects on the value of perseverance in scientific research, especially when the subjects tackled are controversial or difficult for others to understand. He highlights the privilege that comes with working on novel topics, emphasizing that while the journey may be met with doubt, the potential for significant contributions to knowledge makes it worthwhile.
In practice
In a speech about career choices at a science fair, to inspire students to pursue challenging topics.
While it is quite reasonable for scientists to be skeptical of new ideas that do not fit within the accepted realm of scientific knowledge, the best science often emerges from situations where results carefully obtained do not fit within the accepted paradigms.
If African farmers can use improved seeds and better practices to grow more crops and get them to market, then millions of families can earn themselves a better living and a better life.
It is always noteworthy that all those who seriously study this science [the theory of numbers] conceive a sort of passion for it.
It's a pity that nobody has found an exploding black hole. If they had, I would have won a Nobel prize.
Economics has never been a science - and it is even less now than a few years ago.
This new power, which has proved itself to be such a terrifying weapon of destruction, is harnessed for the first time for the common good of our community.
Round about the accredited and orderly facts of every science there ever floats a sort of dust-cloud of exceptional observations, of occurrences minute and irregular and seldom met with, which it always proves more easy to ignore than to attend to... Anyone will renovate his science who will steadily look after the irregular phenomena, and when science is renewed, its new formulas often have more of the voice of the exceptions in them than of what were supposed to be the rules.
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