A comment on this morning’s cometarium post reminded me of this famous axiom in the history of science:
“No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer.”
Stigler’s Law is named for University of Chicago statistician Stephen Stigler, who attributes it to sociologist Robert K. Merton. [Thanks, Rahere!]
4 thoughts on “Stigler’s Law of Eponymy”
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I’m pretty certain that Ed Southern really invented the Southern blot. On the other hand, I understand that he was never particularly keen on naming the procedure after himself – others simply tacked his name to it, and it stuck.
Things aren’t named after the first person to discover them, they are named after the last person to discover them.