[I know I didn't. Shame on me.]
Perhaps it is simply a reflection of a culture that places a premium on show-biz celebrity. Not to denigrate in any wise the memory of the likes of Prince, Robin Williams, Carrie Fisher and so on, but how many of the following got comparable news coverage?
Vera Rubin (1928-2016) - Confirmed the existence of dark matter.
Roger Tsien (1952-2016) - Nobel laureate for his work with cancer cells and Alzheimer's Disease.
Ray Tomlinson (1941-2016) - Inventor of modern email.
Edgar Mitchell (1930-2016) - Sixth man to walk on the moon.
Marvin Minsky (1927-2016) - Pioneer of artificial intelligence.
Bob Paine (1933-2016) - Marine ecologist, founder of the idea of 'keystone species'.
Ahmed Zewail (1946-2016) - Nobel chemist who invented a method of capturing molecular motions on the scale of 1 femtosecond.
Susan Lindquist (1949-2016) - Discovered the fundamentals of protein folding.
And many other scientists, researchers, engineers, and technologists of all disciplines. Again, not belittling the other celebrities who died, but should the death of the woman who confirmed dark matter, or the man who invented email merit more 'in memoriam' coverage in the news than they got? Certainly at least as much as an actress or a comedian.
Boru
Perhaps it is simply a reflection of a culture that places a premium on show-biz celebrity. Not to denigrate in any wise the memory of the likes of Prince, Robin Williams, Carrie Fisher and so on, but how many of the following got comparable news coverage?
Vera Rubin (1928-2016) - Confirmed the existence of dark matter.
Roger Tsien (1952-2016) - Nobel laureate for his work with cancer cells and Alzheimer's Disease.
Ray Tomlinson (1941-2016) - Inventor of modern email.
Edgar Mitchell (1930-2016) - Sixth man to walk on the moon.
Marvin Minsky (1927-2016) - Pioneer of artificial intelligence.
Bob Paine (1933-2016) - Marine ecologist, founder of the idea of 'keystone species'.
Ahmed Zewail (1946-2016) - Nobel chemist who invented a method of capturing molecular motions on the scale of 1 femtosecond.
Susan Lindquist (1949-2016) - Discovered the fundamentals of protein folding.
And many other scientists, researchers, engineers, and technologists of all disciplines. Again, not belittling the other celebrities who died, but should the death of the woman who confirmed dark matter, or the man who invented email merit more 'in memoriam' coverage in the news than they got? Certainly at least as much as an actress or a comedian.
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
