In genius studies, forgotten genius tends to refer to a genius that is either underappreciated, whose name may not be a household name, but whose intellect was penetrating and pioneering, a behind-the-scenes genius, a genius whose work a bigger genius built and improved on, therein subsuming the former genius’ flame, fame, or glory, among other variations along these lines; a genius not prominent in the public mind or cultural milieu.
Overview
Historically, a few classic citation examples of forgotten geniuses, include: Charles Wheatstone, William Gilbert, Robert Hooke, John Ray, and Oliver Heaviside. [1]
In 1993, Keith Laidler classified (Ѻ) Elizabeth Fulhame (c.1750-c.1820) (SIG:20) (Ѻ), aka “mother of mechanistic chemistry” (Ѻ), noted for her demonstration of photoimaging, as a “forgotten genius”.
Quotes
The following are related quotes:
“Heaviside was the forgotten genius of physics.”
— Leon Brillouin (1970), Relativity Reexamined [2]
References
1. (a) Gossick, Ben. (1968). “Sir Charles Wheatstone: Forgotten Genius” (Ѻ), IEEE Spectrum.
(b) Pumfrey, Stephen and Tilley, David. (2003). “William Gilbert: Forgotten Genius”, Physics World, Nov.
(c) Inwood, Stephen. (2005). The Forgotten Genius: Biography of Robert Hooke 1635-1703 (pg. 10). MacAdam/Cage Publishing.
(d) Anon. (2015). “John Ray: the Forgotten Genius” (Ѻ), JohnRayTrust.com.
(e) Mahon, Basil. (2017). The Forgotten Genius of Oliver Heaviside: a Maverick of Electrical Science. Prometheus Books.
2. Brillouin, Leon. (1970). Relativity Reexamined (pg. 103) (Ѻ). Academic Press.
