Einstein Ch. 25 & Epilogue

      The more Isaacson mentions Einstein's unrelenting pursuit of a unified field theory, the more I begin to believe that Einstein's stubbornness was a scientific vice in his later years.  Isaacson obviously emphasizes Einstein's commitment to this project that never come to fruition.  It seems that the mind of a genius was solely committed to the formation of complex sets of equations and ideas that ultimately could not challenge quantum theory.  I think a large problem with research in our age now reflects this dedication to an idea with no empirical basis.  Sometimes researchers have an idea of what results would be popular/profitable and instead of unbiased observation, the scientific method is ignored and particular results are pursued.  Michio Kaku's edition of The Best American Science Writing 2012 includes an article written on a study of red wine and the effect on aging.  The purpose of the article is to highlight when science falls victim to vice. Researchers thought they had found a reversing effect on aging in red wine, and despite the fact that the results could not be reproduced and verified by other researchers, the "sexy" idea of wine being good for human health hit the public sooner that it should have.  The problem here is that the public has an affinity to these types of ideas, and other research that discourages it never reaches a public sphere.  Even today, red wines effect on aging lingers in mainstream beauty magazines and websites.  This greed is in no way a virtuous quality of a scientist, as it is a prime example of Macintyre's external good.