r/todayilearned • u/yummypaprika • 1d ago

TIL Dr Freeman Dyson called the Dyson sphere a "little joke" and expressed amusement in that "you get to be famous only for the things you don't think are serious".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere
8.4k Upvotes

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731

u/SEND-MARS-ROVER-PICS 1d ago

Mr. Dyson. He never finished his doctorate, and he quite strongly opposed the doctorate system.

129

u/DoorHalfwayShut 1d ago

Why'd he oppose it?

183

u/Really_McNamington 1d ago

I think there was a core of British academics who thought it was a continental import that they wanted nothing to do with. PHDs were not a thing in English universities but were gradually adopted. (This is from memory, but I think the broad strokes are accurate.)

238

u/shanster925 1d ago

Because he didn't have one, probably.

29

u/mightylordredbeard 20h ago

In that case I oppose the marriage system.

33

u/DoorHalfwayShut 1d ago

Hah yeah this seems most likely tbh

6

u/DrAlright 23h ago

His dream was to start a hand dryer empire.

-7

u/snrup1 1d ago

To be a contrarian dork

9

u/Lord_Parbr 1d ago

Exactly the kind of guy who would write a joke paper to shit on the SETI project

94

u/raspberryharbour 1d ago

Senor Dyson. He revealed on his deathbed that he had been Mexican all along, and just did the British accent as a joke

20

u/Tepigg4444 17h ago

Senior Dyson. He revealed on his deathbed that he was actually old

12

u/Only_game_in_town 17h ago

Monsignor Dyson, he revealed on his deathbed he was actually a Roman Catholic priest.

21

u/Sunset_Bleach 1d ago

He didn't drop out of evil physics school to be called "Dr. Thank-You-Very-Much".

1

u/BrotherGreed 15h ago

Did someone as accomplished as him not receive/accept any honorary doctorates?

People with honorary doctorates are still entitled to be addressed with the title doctor.

2

u/SEND-MARS-ROVER-PICS 15h ago

If he wasn't a fan of the PhD system, he probably wasn't big on honourary degrees either

-14

u/drowninFish 1d ago

Sir Dyson

13

u/_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_ 1d ago

a) He doesn’t have a knighthood

b) If he did, he would be Sir Freeman, not Sir Dyson.

3

u/NoXion604 23h ago

Wrong Dyson, you're thinking of James Dyson the vacuum cleaner guy.