> Is it perhaps that the limelight is less on mathematicians than it was during the early 20th century?
Everything make sense looking backwards. It is quite possible there are people who exist today in various fields (think AI, crypto, space, vehicles) who will go down in history the same way. Kids will look back in 50 years citing their names, just as we cite Dirac, Einstein, Feynman, Heisenberg, etc. To us, these people are just "scientists", and "engineers" who are also alive at the same time we are. The reward is reaped years later.
Quantum Mechanics' reward was computers and health tech for the most part, but most of that truly started popping off long after the Manhattan project celebs died.
How is computing downwind from QM? I would trace computing's lineage back to the invention of the transistor or the earlier vacuum tube (advancements in electrical engineering, and the beginning of electronics), and logically back to Boole.
I don't think QM has had its payoff yet, but certainly general and special relativity have paid off in things like GPS, and probably more examples that I don't know about.
Everything make sense looking backwards. It is quite possible there are people who exist today in various fields (think AI, crypto, space, vehicles) who will go down in history the same way. Kids will look back in 50 years citing their names, just as we cite Dirac, Einstein, Feynman, Heisenberg, etc. To us, these people are just "scientists", and "engineers" who are also alive at the same time we are. The reward is reaped years later.
Quantum Mechanics' reward was computers and health tech for the most part, but most of that truly started popping off long after the Manhattan project celebs died.