The problem with praising famous scientists

When role models become too romanticized, their fame can have the opposite effect of intimidating those who wish to enter the field. This is what Des Jardins calls the Marie Curie complex. “If we create these myths of people being uber-people and thus good scientists, many of us earthlings are not equipped,” she said. “You will disqualify the majority of people in science when they feel like they won’t measure up.” These pressures are especially strong on groups that are minorities in science, like women; when Curie came to the U.S. in 1921 year, her reputation had preceded her. She was known as a brilliant scientist, a flawless wife and mother who achieved an impossible balance between her personal and professional life. Instead of Curie’s visit inspiring more women to get into science, Des Jardins said, “women in U.S. thought, ‘Oh god we could never pull off that perfection.’”

In a perfect world, Highfield mused, we wouldn’t need famous people to become emblematic of their fields. Stereotype threat would be a non-issue. Our understanding of scientists’ personal lives wouldn’t affect how we see them as scientists. But we’re so compelled by narratives that, without them, science can become, “trite, boring and hard to comprehend,” Highfield said, especially for technically complex subjects. “When it comes to inspiring the public, it can be a choice between telling a heroic scientific tale or saying something that will fail to ignite much interest.”