This article, in which Paul Nurse compares Elon Musk with Isaac Newton (“a nasty piece of work”), leaves me completely speechless.

Graeme 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

@sellathechemist The thing is, all musk is, is someone with money. He isn't a scientist, doesn't understand any science, and is anti science at times. So there is no reason fro him to be a member except kowtowing to money. The fact that he's a nasty misogynist fascist is just final insult.

LionelB

@sellathechemist

Of course Musk's $$$ have nothing to do with it. What a terribly vulgar suggestion.

Eggs now in different baskets.

@sellathechemist Perhaps time for the UK Royal Society to consider posthumous membership for Josef Mengele?

Flo

@sellathechemist next step would we to introduce a Royal Society Peace Price...

Nicovel0 🍉

@sellathechemist Nurse would have a point if Musk had made any advances himself, but all he has done is fund ventures. If that is the bar, then any education minister that funds research qualifies, and that is just a ridiculous proposition.

xs4me2

@sellathechemist

Musk has done nothing but steal and buy ideas with money from the mines his dad purchased. Tesla was not his idea, nor Twitter, and rockets in space neither.

AM💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

@sellathechemist
Wonder what Musk offered him to say that ????

Nick Radcliffe

@sellathechemist And in the Guardian: ‘I’m old, I’m white, I’m a man, so everything’s against me.’
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jan/11/paul-nurse-second-term-royal-society-president-interview

Extraordinary that he can think that.
Unbelievable that he would say it out loud.

Netraven

@sellathechemist pedo alert

John

@sellathechemist what if Isaac Newton hadn't published anything?

pookiesorcery

@sellathechemist is it surprising this article appears in the Financial Times? more than an article, it feels like propaganda... oops, advertising. which is which?

SellaTheChemist

@pookiesorcery Not at all. Michael Peel and Clive Cookson are excellent journalists. Michael has followed this story for quite a while and I have spoken to him several times in the past. The Grok thing is no doubt what prompted them to go and ask Nurse whether his position had shifted at all.

SellaTheChemist

@mrkeen In that case Robert Hooke might have had a happier life.

SellaTheChemist

@Netraven What????? Please don't spread nonsense.

Netraven

@sellathechemist oh, sorry, forgot the world is shit now.

SellaTheChemist

@njr When all you have is a spade everything looks like a hole to be dug…

pookiesorcery

@sellathechemist oh. thank you for clearing that out. in this day and age, i am terribly sceptical of ths kind of stuff. my apologies

SellaTheChemist

@Robbins There's no conspiracy. Just an ability to see the moral wood for the trees.

SellaTheChemist

@xs4me2 I have been told that much of the push for his election was based on neuralink rather than the other higher profile stuff. But I suspect that there may have been the hope that he might contribute something to the Society's funds. The latter is just speculation on my part, nothing more.
Either way it was a massive error of judgement to elect him in the first place.

SellaTheChemist

@lionelb @pa27 One of the concerns is that withdrawing the fellowship would be contested through the courts. And someone with his net wealth would be in a position to bankrupt the Society even if they didn't actually win. I can see that argument - it's a difficult position to be in. But I still think that using a whataboutist argument using Isaac Newton makes the Society look very weak indeed.