Science, ego, and the fight to be heard

Matt Kaplan, science correspondent for The Economist, discusses his forthcoming book "I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right," which explores why groundbreaking discoveries are often resisted. He highlights figures from Galileo Galilei and Charles Darwin to Nobel laureate Katalin Karikó, whose mRNA research was initially dismissed before transforming modern medicine. Drawing on years of reporting, Kaplan examines how peer review failures, rivalries, funding pressures and institutional politics can delay innovation. He argues that understanding these patterns is essential to protecting bold ideas and strengthening the future of science.