I wouldn't say Wolfram himself has a large following in the sciences. At least in my area (math and engineering) he is actually widely and heavily criticized. H

I wouldn't say Wolfram himself has a large following in the sciences. At least in my area (math and engineering) he is actually widely and heavily criticized. However, some of the things his company makes are widely used. Mathematica is a genuinely wonderful tool (if you have deep pockets) and Alpha is also very popular.