School curricula often give us the impression that science and mathematics have progressed largely through the work of lone geniuses like Charles Darwin or Albert Einstein, and that most great discoveries have come from individuals of almost unparalleled intelligence who toiled alone.

In reality, major discoveries do not happen in a vacuum; they often involve many scientists, even when only one or two individuals receive credit.  A generation of schoolchildren were taught that James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins won the 1962 Nobel Prize for discovering DNA’s structure, while Rosalind Franklin’s contributions were left unmentioned for years (1). Those scientists stood on the shoulders of many other even less well known researchers such as Friedrich Miescher, Phoebus Levene, and Erwin Chargaff, who made important investigations into the nature of DNA in the decades before the landmark discovery of its structure (2).

As Jeremy Farrar, the chief scientist of the World Health Organization, wrote, “even lone geniuses — Einstein working in a patent office, for instance — are a product of their scientific environment and times, building on work done by others and benefiting from feedback from their colleagues. If we rely too heavily on the narrative that science is the history of great men and — too seldom — great women, we underestimate how much it is a result of team work and partnerships” (3).

Collaborations have grown in importance over time. The Human Genome Project, which has been called “one of the greatest scientific feats in history,” involved hundreds of scientists at 20 different institutions spread across six different countries (4). Even more recently, large-scale collaborations rapidly developed and tested multiple COVID-19 vaccines (5,6).

This “lone genius” myth is not only wrong, it may harm science as a discipline. During his undergraduate studies at Harvard University, Martin Chalfie became disheartened by his failed experiments. He believed that a successful scientist should be able to figure out everything alone, and since he was unable to do this, he decided to abandon science completely. Chalfie eventually reversed course, received a PhD in physiology and, along with two other collaborators, won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (7). While the ending of Chalfie’s story is unusual, the beginning is likely not, and we will never know how many talented young scientists left the field because of the belief that a “real” scientist does not need help from others. 

Emphasizing the collaborative aspects of science is crucial for securing the scientists of the future: a 2018 study revealed that students perceived science careers more positively when scientific efforts were portrayed as communal and collaborative rather than as the efforts of a single person alone (8). Although some organizations such as the American Association for Cancer Research and the Lupus Research Alliance now offer team science awards, this remains the exception, rather than the norm.

As the questions that we seek to answer grow increasingly complex, we must work towards recognizing the value of collaborations in science and reward teams, not just individuals. By perpetuating the “lone genius” myth, we do young scientists a disservice and lose valuable members of the scientific community.

References

1. Rosalind Franklin: A Crucial Contribution | Learn Science at Scitable. at <http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/rosalind-franklin-a-crucial-contribution-6538012>
2. Discovery of DNA Double Helix: Watson and Crick | Learn Science at Scitable. at <http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/discovery-of-dna-structure-and-function-watson-397>
3. Farrar, J. We hail individual geniuses, but success in science comes through collaboration. The Observer (2017). at <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/30/we-hail-individual-geniuses-success-in-science-collaboration-nobel-prize>
4. International Consortium Completes Human Genome Project. Genome.gov (2022). at <https://www.genome.gov/11006929/2003-release-international-consortium-completes-hgp>
5. Druedahl, L. C., Minssen, T. & Price, W. N. Collaboration in times of crisis: A study on COVID-19 vaccine R&D partnerships. Vaccine  39, 6291–6295 (2021).
6. COVID has shown the power of science–industry collaboration. Nature  594, 302–302 (2021).
7. The myth of the lone genius. NobelPrize.org (2019). at <https://www.nobelprize.org/martin-chalfie-npii-canada/>
8. Brown, E. R., Steinberg, M., Lu, Y. & Diekman, A. B. Is the Lone Scientist an American Dream? Perceived Communal Opportunities in STEM Offer a Pathway to Closing U.S.–Asia Gaps in Interest and Positivity. Social Psychological and Personality Science  9, 11–23 (2018).