Buzz
While we often picture scientists quietly engrossed in their work, hidden away in laboratories with little desire to disturb others, the reality is different. Brilliant minds are frequently accompanied by strong personalities. Many of the world's greatest thinkers have found themselves at odds, unafraid to engage in verbal sparring. The rivalry between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison stands as the most famous of these scientific clashes, though it’s certainly not the only notable one.
10. Thomas Huxley vs. Richard Owen
Throughout his career, Richard Owen achieved several notable feats, including coining the term “dinosaur” and establishing the Natural History Museum in London. However, his relationships with colleagues were often strained. Today, Owen is often seen as envious and petty toward his peers, even going so far as to plagiarize their work on occasion. His rivalry with Gideon Mantell was likely his most intense, but his ongoing feud with Thomas Huxley ultimately proved far more fruitful for the field of science.
Huxley, famously known as “Darwin’s Bulldog,” was a fierce advocate for the theory of evolution. In contrast, Owen rejected Darwin’s ideas, particularly the controversial notion of humans being related to apes. To challenge this, Owen studied the brains of humans and gorillas, determined to show their stark differences. Huxley disagreed and proved Owen wrong by discovering the hippocampus minor (later known as the calcar avis) in apes, a brain structure Owen had previously claimed existed only in humans.
The controversy surrounding this debate became known as the Great Hippocampus Question. While the issue itself became a subject of humor in the media, it brought significant attention to the theory of evolution. The scientific community largely considered Huxley the victor, leading to the widespread acceptance of evolution as the dominant theory. This debate continued to shape important works such as Charles Lyell’s Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man and Darwin’s own subsequent book, The Descent of Man.
9. Robert Koch vs. Louis Pasteur
Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur played pivotal roles in shaping the field of microbiology and advancing the acceptance of germ theory. However, their differing views sparked a public rivalry. Set against the backdrop of the Franco-Prussian War, their feud was likely fueled by nationalist emotions, adding intensity to their professional conflict.
By the 1870s, Pasteur shifted his focus to studying specific diseases rather than general processes like fermentation and decay. One such disease was anthrax, which also became the subject of research for a young German physician, Robert Koch.
Initially, their overlapping research did not cause friction. Koch concentrated on identifying and isolating the microbes that caused anthrax, while Pasteur worked on immunization. The two finally met at a medical congress in London in 1881, where their interaction appeared cordial.
However, tensions grew as Koch and his German colleagues began to critique Pasteur’s work. The rivalry was reportedly fueled by a mistranslation during a meeting organized by Pasteur to address his critics. When Pasteur said “recueil Allemand” (“German work”), it was mistranslated to Koch as “orgeuil Allemand” (“German arrogance”). Over the following years, a competitive back-and-forth developed between the two, with each scientist eager to outdo the other.
This rivalry ultimately turned out to be incredibly advantageous for humanity. Pasteur went on to develop a rabies vaccine, Koch discovered the cause of tuberculosis, and both men went on to establish two of the world’s leading medical research institutes.
8. Humphry Davy vs. Michael Faraday
This is the story of two renowned chemists, a quintessential example of a student surpassing their teacher. Humphry Davy was one of the most celebrated scientists of his era. He made several groundbreaking discoveries, such as the identification of multiple earth metals, the invention of the Davy lamp used in mines, the identification of chlorine and iodine, and he also pioneered applications for nitrous oxide. However, his prominence would eventually be overshadowed by his pupil, Michael Faraday, who went on to become a trailblazer in the field of electrochemistry.
Faraday had little formal schooling when he began his apprenticeship. Nonetheless, his passion for chemistry led him to regularly attend lectures on the subject. Fortunately for humanity, Davy recognized Faraday’s potential and took him on as an apprentice despite his bookbinder background. Over time, Faraday not only gained knowledge from Davy but also adopted his admirable qualities. Both men shared a passion for teaching and spreading knowledge to future generations. When Davy invented the Davy lamp, which became essential for miners, he chose not to patent it, allowing more people to benefit from its use. Similarly, Faraday developed a disregard for wealth and believed science should be dedicated to serving the public.
Despite receiving knighthood and numerous accolades, Humphry Davy’s achievements were ultimately overshadowed by those of his former student. On several occasions, Davy criticized Faraday’s work and even attempted to block his entry into the Royal Society. However, by the end of his life, his resentment faded. When asked about his greatest discovery, Davy simply responded, “Michael Faraday.”
7. Jonas Salk vs. Albert Sabin
The so-called rivalry between Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin wasn't really about the scientists themselves, but rather the groundbreaking vaccines they developed. Their versions of the polio vaccine were created just a few years apart, with Salk being the first. Since then, there has been ongoing debate about which vaccine should be used. Both scientists have passionate supporters and critics, but their combined contributions have played a crucial role in the global fight against polio.
Sixty years ago, polio was a serious health threat, predominantly affecting children and often causing paralysis or death. In 1955, Jonas Salk developed his polio vaccine, which was widely celebrated. A few years later, Albert Sabin introduced his own version. The two vaccines differed significantly: Salk’s was injected, while Sabin’s was taken orally. Salk’s vaccine used a “killed” poliovirus, while Sabin used a “live” but weakened virus, believing it was the best method to achieve long-lasting immunity.
Salk’s vaccine was initially the standard, but Sabin’s oral vaccine eventually became the preferred choice for global mass immunizations. Though it hasn’t been conclusively proven that Sabin’s oral vaccine is more effective than Salk’s injected version, some argue that Sabin’s vaccine might cause infection if the virus is not sufficiently weakened. This concern led the U.S. to revert to Salk’s vaccine in 1999, and the debate remains unresolved to this day.
6. Sigmund Freud vs. Carl Jung
Freud and Jung, two of the most influential figures in psychotherapy, had a complicated and at times turbulent relationship. They first met in 1907 when Freud was nearly 20 years older than Jung. Despite this age gap, they quickly bonded, engaging in a marathon conversation that lasted 13 hours. Although their friendship grew strong, the age difference often made their dynamic resemble more of a father-son relationship than that of equals. This might have been unsettling for Freud, who was the pioneer of the Oedipus complex.
Most of the time, their age gap didn’t pose any serious challenges. Freud would affectionately refer to Jung as his “adopted eldest son” and even consider him his potential successor. However, Freud occasionally displayed moments of paranoia and distrust towards Jung. In one instance during a 1909 trip to America, Freud accused Jung of wanting him dead and fainted shortly after.
The true source of tension between Freud and Jung lay in their differing professional views. Freud believed that human behavior was primarily driven by sexual desire, while Jung saw sexuality as just one of many components of the broader life force. Jung also disagreed with Freud’s conception of the unconscious mind as a place for repressed memories, and he believed in the possibility of parapsychology, while Freud was a staunch skeptic of such ideas.
Their professional differences culminated in a split in 1912, following the publication of Jung’s work, Psychology of the Unconscious. Even after their falling out, Freud’s influence on Jung remained evident, particularly when Jung went on to develop a successful movement in dream analysis psychology.
5. Richard Burton vs. John Speke
Richard Burton and John Speke were two prominent Victorian explorers and geographers known for their ambitious journey to uncover the source of the Nile. In 1856, the pair set out for Africa with little more than their theories and a rough idea of a large lake somewhere near the mysterious Mountains of the Moon region.
From the outset, Burton and Speke struggled to work together. Their approaches couldn’t have been more different: Burton, a solitary scholar, immersed himself in books, while Speke preferred to engage with local guides and hunt. In 1858, the two became the first Europeans to reach Lake Tanganyika. Initially, they thought it might be the source of the Nile, but they soon ruled it out, realizing that the lake had a river flowing into it, not out of it.
Illness halted Burton’s progress, but Speke pressed on and eventually discovered Lake Victoria, which he declared to be the source of the Nile. Upon returning to England, their rivalry intensified when Speke allegedly attempted to claim sole credit for the discovery by presenting it alone, rather than waiting for Burton as originally planned.
Burton’s response was to embark on a relentless campaign to discredit Speke. His efforts were largely successful, especially after Speke died in a hunting accident a few years later. Nevertheless, a subsequent expedition led by Henry Morton Stanley confirmed that the source of the Nile had indeed been discovered by both men, regardless of their personal animosities.
4. Gilbert Lewis vs. Walther Nernst
Much like Davy and Faraday, Walther Nernst and Gilbert Lewis shared a teacher-student relationship. In 1900, after gaining recognition as one of the foremost chemists of his era, Lewis left his Harvard teaching role to join Walther Nernst, a pioneer in physical chemistry, for a fellowship. However, during his time in Nernst's lab, Lewis developed a deep animosity toward Nernst, a sentiment that would shadow his career.
In 1920, Walther Nernst was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his groundbreaking work on thermochemistry. Two years later, Gilbert Lewis was nominated for the same honor but was not selected. He would be nominated again in 1924 and 1925, and, in fact, throughout the remaining years of his career. By the end, Lewis had been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 35 times without ever winning.
This situation largely stemmed from Lewis's propensity to make powerful enemies. His animosity toward Nernst led him to publicly criticize him at every opportunity, often using extreme exaggerations to belittle his former mentor. On one occasion, Lewis condemned Nernst's calculations as “a regrettable episode in the history of chemistry.” This didn’t sit well with many academics, especially former Nobel laureates and members of the Nobel Prize committee who supported Nernst.
Although both Lewis and Nernst made significant contributions to thermodynamics, their rivalry ensured that only one of them would receive the recognition he deserved.
3. Edward Drinker Cope vs. Othniel Charles Marsh
Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh were two prominent American paleontologists, credited with one of the most remarkable (and simultaneously, one of the most embarrassing) chapters in paleontological history. Their infamous rivalry, dubbed the Bone Wars, was so intense that it inspired countless books, a documentary, and even a graphic novel.
The two men differed greatly. Cope came from an affluent background, whereas Marsh had working-class roots. Their personalities and scientific methodologies were polar opposites. So even under the best circumstances, their professional relationship was bound to be strained. The rivalry sparked when Cope revealed his reconstruction of the Elasmosaurus, which Marsh publicly ridiculed by pointing out that Cope had placed the dinosaur's head at the wrong end. Back then, dinosaurs with long necks were unfamiliar to most, so Cope, naturally assuming the long end was the tail, had made the mistake.
After this humiliation, the competition between the two escalated into a relentless game of one-upmanship. They engaged in all sorts of dirty tricks to outdo one another, including publicly criticizing each other, sabotaging excavation sites, and even bribing workers to steal specimens.
Despite their unethical tactics, Cope and Marsh went on to discover and describe more than 100 dinosaur species. However, due to their negligence, only about 30 of those species remain valid today. Nonetheless, their work played a significant role in sparking widespread interest in dinosaurs and prehistoric life as a whole.
2. Robert Hooke vs. Isaac Newton
It’s often said that history favors the victor, and Robert Hooke’s story is perhaps the best example of this. Hooke was once a celebrated and respected scientist, with numerous contributions that should have earned him a lasting place in history. Yet, at one point, his legacy was nearly erased, all because he found himself on the losing end of a fierce rivalry with one of history’s most iconic figures: Isaac Newton.
Even today, the true nature of the relationship between Hooke and Newton remains a matter of debate. Some believe Hooke was a bitter figure, envious of someone smarter and more successful than him. Others argue that Newton, angered by Hooke’s criticism of his early optics work, used his power as President of the Royal Society to diminish Hooke’s contributions after his death. A series of letters between the two lends support to both views.
The most significant point of contention between Hooke and Newton revolved around Newton’s law of gravitation, one of physics' most famous principles, which Newton outlined in his groundbreaking work Principia Mathematica. Hooke always insisted that Newton had borrowed the idea of an inverse-square law from him, and he may have had a point. Several others, including Hooke, had worked on a universal law of gravity before Newton. Newton acknowledges them briefly in his book, but Hooke felt his role in the development of such a fundamental law deserved more recognition.
1. Francis Crick vs. Maurice Wilkins
Unraveling the structure of DNA was no simple task. It took two research teams more than a decade to finally crack the code. On one side were Francis Crick and James Watson from the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge, and on the other, Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins from King’s College London. Adding to the tension, Franklin and Wilkins didn’t quite see eye to eye.
Today, it is widely accepted that Crick and Watson were the ones who discovered the double helix structure. However, newly uncovered letters between Crick and Wilkins reveal that a fierce rivalry was brewing between the two teams.
On one occasion, Crick and Watson visited their counterparts in London. After listening to Franklin present her latest findings, they returned to Cambridge and began working on a DNA model based on her data—only to make a crucial mistake: their model had a triple helix. While what they did wasn’t exactly theft, as the London team had openly shared their results, it certainly fueled competition. In any case, this didn’t prevent Wilkins from sending Crick a letter expressing how “bloody browned off” he was about the situation. Crick responded with good humor, saying that even though they “kicked (them) in the pants, it was between friends.”
Ultimately, Franklin left the lab, and the remaining trio continued their research. In 1962, the three men were awarded a Nobel Prize for their groundbreaking work on the molecular structure of DNA.
