---
title: "Scientific credit fights are older than AI"
date: 2026-09-09
canonical: https://solmaz.io/x/2097523417348247779/
x_url: https://x.com/onusoz/status/2097523417348247779
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

A lot of you that have not spent time in academia might think that the Navier-Stokes drama is a new AI-induced effect, but I assure you it is not

Academia is a feudal institution that values tenure over merit, a lot of the time (not always). Its ugly face can appear whenever there is a big discovery and a name has to be put on the work

In academia, reputation is the reward, so no wonder people fight over it. Having your name on the big thing means all the doors opening and easier grants. It's not just academia, it's human nature

Here are some historical cases where similar drama happened:

- Newton vs Leibniz - calculus
- Banting/Macleod/Best - insulin
- Gallo vs Montagnier - HIV
- Doudna/Charpentier vs Broad - CRISPR
- Franklin/Watson/Crick/Wilkins - DNA
- Meitner/Hahn - nuclear fission

And these are the super famous ones everybody knows about. These kind of petty fights happen at the smallest scale too

*Quotes a post by @kimmonismus (https://x.com/kimmonismus/status/2097231170429669703); its text is omitted here because it is not covered by this site's license.*