[split] a discussion on origins sparked by "The Order of Things"

[Mark A Becker]

Sometimes it's a mystery as to why certain discoveries become more famous than others.

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Collins is an interesting personality. Thanks for bringing him up. Will read his book.

The genome project may have gained so much visibility because 3 US presidents spoke publicly about it. And anything said by presidents is deemed “newsworthy”.

The Gleick books are very interesting, as well.

I also get a kick out of books written by John Horgan. And especially his articles in Scientific American.

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also, busker,

It is interesting that Crick and Wilkins were influenced by Schrodinger's book "What Is Life?" (1944).

The work Schrodinger did was crucial to quantum mechanics. Yet certain discoveries, like his, are not as famous as others because they're difficult to express to ordinary people, like me. They need to dumbed down so that even I can understand them: quantum mechanics explains why certain modern things work, like GPS, cell phones, computers, etc...