A gentleman scientist is a financially independent scientist who pursues scientific study as a hobby. The expression arose in post-Renaissance Europe but became less common in the 20th century as government and private funding increased.
Read more about Gentleman Scientist: History, Benefits and Drawbacks, Modern-day Independent Scientists
Famous quotes containing the words gentleman and/or scientist:
“If you love music, hear it; go to operas, concerts and pay fiddlers to play to you; but I insist on your neither piping nor fiddling yourself. It puts a gentleman in a very frivolous, contemptible light.... Few things would mortify me more than to see you bearing a part in a concert, with a fiddle under your chin, or a pipe in your mouth.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“Well, it seems to me a scientist has need for both vision and confidence.”
—Harry Essex (b. 1910)