That someone as accomplished as Fred Hoyle could come up with an implausible theory, like solar activity causing influenza, points to a bigger truth: Even highly accomplished and intelligent people are wrong.
If you go to the shelves dedicated to cold remedies in your local drug store, you’ll find Vitamin C supplements like Emergen-C prominently displayed. Unfortunately, vitamin C doesn’t provide health benefits like reducing the risk of or preventing colds and flu. It’s Linus Pauling‘s fault that so many people believe this is the case. Having won two Nobel prizes, he went on to spend his credibility on promoting vitamin C not only for cold but also for cancer.
Another example of a Nobel prize winner promoting controversial theories is Kary Mullis, the inventor of the polymerase chain reaction and someone I’d liked to have a beer with. Unfortunately, he also doubted that AIDS is caused by HIV, together with other bizarre beliefs.
This phenomenon is so common that it has a name: The Nobel Disease.
Nehaveigur 