“The main lesson that I have learned over time is that a good scientist is a humble and listening scientist and not one that is sure 100 percent in what he reads in the textbooks.”
– Dr. Dan Shechtman, interviewed in the New York Times after learning that he had won the 2011 Noble Prize for Chemistry.
My favorite quote, in a similar vein is :
In physics the truth is rarely perfectly clear, and that is certainly universally the case in human affairs. Hence, what is not surrounded by uncertainty cannot be the truth.
Richard Feynman 1918-1988
Got a kick out of this:
"He [Linus Pauling, two-time Nobel winner] would stand on those platforms and declare, ‘Danny Shechtman is talking nonsense. There is no such thing as quasicrystals, only quasi-scientists.’" Shechtman said. "He really was a great scientist, but he was wrong. It’s not the first time he was wrong."
I know many brilliant scientists who are unfortunately also egomaniacs and never let you forget they are smarter than you. They eventually end up giving talks to empty rooms. The brilliant scientist who shows humility is a rarer breed but ends up being vastly more effective, especially when they need to persuade everyone to accept their world changing ideas.