Multiple Discoveries and the Central Message

Abstract

Discussions of independent multiple discoveries in science have paid inadequate attention to two essential points: precise definition of the discovery and the extent to which it was part of the scientist's central message. When account is taken of these points, some cases of alleged multiple discovery turn out to be singletons. This contention is illustrated by means of an examination of the alleged multiple discovery of the theory presented by J. M. Keynes in his General Theory of Employment Interest and Money. The analysis indicates that the familiar claims of the Stockholm school and of Michal Kalecki in this regard should be rejected. The paper ends with a discussion of the importance from the viewpoint of the sociology of science that a discovery be part of a scientist's central message.

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