Or you could just do a system restore to a few days ago I'd change from IE as its **** and slow. I use Google Chrome.
The problem with lauding one thinker over another is that we really cannot graduate the thought itself. If Radford had not existed or Newton had not seen the apple fall or the Greeks sat in baths then would/could Peter Higgs have developed his ideas? So how you define who has made the greatest contribution? It's all a progression.
I'm well aware that it's a progression. However, certain major milestones have to be marked and this most certainly is one. His original idea has driven the development of some unbelievable technology and this will almost certainly lead to spin-offs in other directions, as most technological development does. It's an outstanding achievement.
The quote is generally attributed to Newton, though apparently it goes further back even than him. It's true, knowledge is an evolutionary process, and nobody makes their great contribution to any field without the work that has gone before them.
From what I've read about Peter Higgs, he personally shuns publicity. I don't think that he's truly shy but as far as he's concerned it's the scientific advantage that should be talked about.
Did you see him in the meeting last year when CERN confirmed it was the boson that he had postulated? He shed a few tears. I'm not sure why, but I suspect it was relief. He is a genuinely shy man from what I've read in 'The Infinity Puzzle'.
