Leaving the Competition in the Dust: A CMB Case Study

Abstract

For me, the coolest part of being a scientist is using data to tell a story. In this way, scientists are kind of like the authors of our universe. An unfortunate side effect of the scientist’s role as author is that we rarely think to write the story of the scientists themselves. Tonight I want to bring the story of one group of scientists out from behind the curtain and into the spotlight. The story I’m telling you tonight has everything: it has science, it has drama, it has egos, and it has really esoteric vector math. It also encapsulates a lot of what is wrong with how some people do science today. Our story tonight is about what happens when we privilege an individualistic and competitive science over a collaborative science.