# Last Physicist to fund his own research **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 22, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881 "2020-06-22T17:37:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/1 "2020-06-22T17:37:25Z")
Wanted to check out the new board by posting a question. So far I love it. Thank you unsung heroes for the great transition. So when you read the history of physics or geology, there were lots of scientists (e.g. Cavendish) who funded their own research. It seemed like science was embraced as a personal passion by the rich and privileged. Who was the last known, self funded physicist/geologist/chemist who made significant contributions to science ? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/2 "2020-06-22T17:54:45Z")
This Wikipedia article says that Julian Barbour is a living physicist who funds his own research. If this article is accurate and relatively complete, he is the most recent one. The article also talks about other scientists who funded themselves: > **[Independent scientist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_scientist)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > An independent scientist (historically also known as gentleman scientist) is a financially independent scientist who pursues scientific study without direct affiliation to a public institution such as a university or government-run research and development body. The expression "gentleman scientist" arose in post-Renaissance Europe, but became less common in the 20th century as government and private funding increased. > Most independent scientists ha... > **[Julian Barbour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Barbour)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Julian Barbour (/ˈbɑːrbər/; born 1937) is a British physicist with research interests in quantum gravity and the history of science. > Since receiving his PhD degree on the foundations of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity at the University of Cologne in 1968, Barbour has supported himself and his family without an academic position, working part-time as a translator (although he has an Oxford University email address and his research ... ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/3 "2020-06-22T17:56:26Z")
The most prominent guy I can think of in recent times is James Lovelock - he of the galaxy brain, 100 years old atm! [http://www.jameslovelock.org/curriculum-vitae/](http://www.jameslovelock.org/curriculum-vitae/) Even then he was in the conventional scientific establishment for the early / mid parts of his career, albeit with a very unconventional breadth of research interest. He says on his website that he has been an independent scientist since 1964. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/4 "2020-06-22T17:56:48Z")
Hmm, when I link to a Wikipedia article, this message board inserts the article, not just the link. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/5 "2020-06-22T18:29:26Z")
I think that you are seeing a preview of the article when your post is displayed. Facebook does this too when a link is shared. I doubt that the actual article is embedded in your post. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/6 "2020-06-22T18:43:03Z")
It is relatively easy to fund some research into, say, string theory on your own. I suspect it is a little more difficult to get that particle accelerator, dilution refrigerator, plutonium, radio telescope, and room full of full-time assistants set up. If you are a multi billionaire who can privately fund anything conceivable, including an entire research institute — well, nobody got that rich slaving away doing basic research. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/7 "2020-06-22T18:52:04Z")
It still happens. When I was in grad school, I spent a year self-funded, for the simple reason that there wasn’t any funding available for me. On the one hand, this is a lot easier for theorists than for experimentalists. On the other hand, there’s also a lot more funding available for experimentalists. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/8 "2020-06-22T20:50:59Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Hmm, when I link to a Wikipedia article, this message board inserts the article, not just the link. If you embed the link in your text [like this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wombat), you’ll just get clickable text. If you put the link on a line by itself, you’ll get a “onebox,” which is a preview of the page you’re linking to, like this: > **[Wombat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wombat)** > > Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials of the family Vombatidae that are native to Australia. Living species are about 1 m (40 in) in length with small, stubby tails and weigh between 20 and 35 kg (44 and 77 lb). They are adaptable and habitat tolerant, and are found in forested, mountainous, and heathland areas of southern and eastern Australia, including Tasmania, as well as an isolated patch of about 300 ha (740 acres) in Epping Forest National Park in central Queenslan... ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/9 "2020-06-22T20:51:09Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Hmm, when I link to a Wikipedia article, this message board inserts the article, not just the link. Remember this. Someday someone might ask if anything good happened during that accursed year 2020, you can mention it, maybe win something. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/10 "2020-06-22T21:32:12Z")
Einstein was a clerk at the Swiss patent office when he wrote his miracle five papers published in 1905. Pretty significant. Of course, later on he had academic appointments. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/11 "2020-06-23T13:22:22Z")
Gary, something’s clearly wrong there. When you insert the link that way, the wombat is visible. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/12 "2020-06-23T14:26:37Z")
At least, unlike the old board, you don’t get those broken links where the trailing parentheses isn’t included in the link. That always bothered me, along with the 502/504 errors we’d been getting for the past few months. I think people tend to forget the annoyances we lived with in the previous environment while complaining about the new ones. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/13 "2020-06-23T17:37:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Gary, something’s clearly wrong there. When you insert the link that way, the wombat is visible. Because wombats are invisible? That’s part of the onebox thing. If there’s a picture at the site, you’ll see that too. I noticed pictures in threads on the first day, even started a thread in ATMB about it. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/14 "2020-06-23T17:57:54Z")
Thanks for the replies. And love the cool features of the new board Can you close this thread now ? Want to see how a closed thread looks 😀 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/15 "2020-06-23T18:38:38Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Because wombats are invisible? _Some_ wombats are invisible. Not that one. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/16 "2020-06-25T12:22:29Z")
> [@Gary\_Robson](#): > > There are three extant species and they are all members of the family Vombatidae. So actually there are four extant species of Wombats, three are visible to humans and photocameras and one (or maybe more) invisible. (Edited to experiment) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2020, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/17 "2020-06-25T22:20:54Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > So actually there are four extant species of Wombats, three are visible to humans and photocameras and one (or maybe more) invisible. And the only known specimen of that fourth species changed his online name 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/18 "2020-06-26T02:26:10Z")
He isn’t related to this guy, is he? > **[Giant wombat-like creatures, the size of black bears, once walked the earth |...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/australia/giant-wombat-intl-scli-scn/index.html)** > > A wombat-like creature, the size of a black bear and weighing 330 pounds, roamed the earth some 25 million years ago, scientists have discovered. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/19 "2020-06-26T12:42:51Z")
Well, I’ve never seen a giant wombat, so… ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881/20 "2020-06-26T16:20:50Z")
I am amused by the multiple levels of this conversation, and by the sharp turn in the topic of the thread. I suppose it makes sense if you remember that wombats have cubical poop. That takes some interesting physics and the only funding required is a bag of Purina Wombat Chow. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-physicist-to-fund-his-own-research/911881.md?page=2)