In Anathem there were academics who spent their entire lives learning the history of academic scholarship for the express purpose of reminding everyone how ofte

In Anathem there were academics who spent their entire lives learning the history of academic scholarship for the express purpose of reminding everyone how often things are reinvented and preventing people from getting too excited when they have discovered something that was already known. I’m drawing a blank on their name, but it was one of the things about the book that I really enjoyed. It really helped to sell the setting, where the scientific method has been known and used continuously for 5,000 years or more.