When did science change from a thing where people were just happy to figure things out into something where people were not happy unless they made fancy eye-catching headlines?
When exactly?
Well, it must have been some time before the 1950s. “The Double Helix” is not just the story of the intellectual race, byt of the publicity race. Throughout the Post-WWII-Era, scientists were battling with each other to see who could make the biggest headlines: closet manned flight to the earth’s outer orbit, or the development of vaccinations, or biggest bomb. Science was the way that America ruled the world. Its ability to steal the headlines from the sports stars was only equaled by Communist scandals.
That day you are thinking about - where scientists pursued their selfless quest for the truth without thought of fame or recompense - hasn’t existed since the invention of mass media and newspapers.