Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel and mathematician and AI researcher Timothy Nguyen discuss both the science and the sociology behind Brian Keating's book Losing the Nobel Prize. They discuss the scientific background of inflation, a summary of Brian Keating's BICEP2 experiments, problems with the Nobel prize, doubts about Keating's candidacy for the Nobel prize, and what an overfocus on prizes ignores. The discussion is an expanded version of Ethan Siegel's book review titled "Losing the Nobel Prize Makes a Good Point But Misses a Great One".

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Timestamps:
00:05 : Critiquing your colleagues
00:44 : Crash course on cosmology and inflation
16:37 : Brian Keating's BICEP2 experiments
18:24 : The importance of acknowledging prior work on inflation
19:49 : Did Brian Keating really lose the Nobel Prize? Who else would have been awarded?
20:55 : Restrictions on the Nobel Prize. Some scientists who did and didn't get the prize.
22:07 : What about Guth? Linde? Albrecht? Steinhardt? Allen?
23:17 : "I seriously doubt Brian Keating's name would have even been among those considered..."
23:38 : The takeaway: It's not about Brian Keating. Focusing on individual prizes overlooks the collaborative nature of science.

#nobelprize #cosmos #astronomy

Ethan Siegel's article:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswi...

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