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I believe they think about persons such as Tycho Brahe, William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, street-named Lord Kelvin, or even John von Neumann, whose father, Neu

I believe they think about persons such as Tycho Brahe, William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, street-named Lord Kelvin, or even John von Neumann, whose father, Neumann Miksa, received the "von" from emperor Franz Joseph. There is a difference between being given an island by the king to build your own astronomical observatory in the 1600s [1] and knowing that you don't have to worry about food and shelter for the next few years because of your well-placed long-term investments. In this sense, the very few amateurs left today are the billionaires funding their own space agencies and whatever else they fancy. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tycho_Brahe#:~:text=King%20Frederick%20II%20granted%20Tycho%20an%20estate%20on%20the%20island%20of%20Hven https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tycho_Brahe#:~:text=King%20Fre...

WJW 4y ago
It's not really the same, since it's not the billionaires designing or building the rockets. They hire professionals for that.
- ly3xqhl8g9 4y ago
  Yes, not the same, Tycho Brahe, estimated to own 1% of the entire wealth of Denmark at the time, treated his workers as slaves [1], and even owned a slave as jester [2]. Today we have wages. [1] "Gellius appears to have feared that Tycho wanted to keep him on Hven 'working like a slave.'", 1991, Victor E. Thoren, The Lord of Uraniborg. A Biography of Tycho Brahe, Cambridge University Press, p. 357 [2] ibid., p. 193
uwagar 4y ago
amateurs dont have to do big things (perhaps big things impress you/us). anything can be picked up and polished to perfection. see dodorango
einpoklum 4y ago
> In this sense, the very few amateurs left today are the billionaires funding their own space agencies and whatever else they fancy. This is probably true if your amateur project is building a rocket to go to Mars, but not true for the vast majority of independently-pursued projects of art, craft, design and engineering.

WJW 4y ago

It's not really the same, since it's not the billionaires designing or building the rockets. They hire professionals for that.

ly3xqhl8g9 4y ago
Yes, not the same, Tycho Brahe, estimated to own 1% of the entire wealth of Denmark at the time, treated his workers as slaves [1], and even owned a slave as jester [2]. Today we have wages. [1] "Gellius appears to have feared that Tycho wanted to keep him on Hven 'working like a slave.'", 1991, Victor E. Thoren, The Lord of Uraniborg. A Biography of Tycho Brahe, Cambridge University Press, p. 357 [2] ibid., p. 193

uwagar 4y ago

amateurs dont have to do big things (perhaps big things impress you/us). anything can be picked up and polished to perfection. see dodorango

einpoklum 4y ago

> In this sense, the very few amateurs left today are the billionaires funding their own space agencies and whatever else they fancy. This is probably true if your amateur project is building a rocket to go to Mars, but not true for the vast majority of independently-pursued projects of art, craft, design and engineering.