https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_scientist#Notable_independent_scientists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_scientist#Notable_... In my own fi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_scientist#Notable_independent_scientists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_scientist#Notable_... In my own field, fluid dynamics, Robert Kraichnan is very well respected and spent the majority of his career working as an independent scientist. As you suggested, math is cheap, so Kraichnan was a theorist. This seems to be the largest online forum for independent scientists: https://forum.igdore.org/ https://forum.igdore.org/