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Andre Geim

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Scientist

The Resume

    (October 21, 1958- )
    Born in Sochi, Russia
    Holds dual citizenship of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands
    With Konstantin Novoselov, discovered graphene: carbon arranged in a one-atom thick hexagonal lattice (2004)
    With Novoselov, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics (2010)

Why he might be annoying:

    He twice failed the entrance exams for the Moscow Physics Institute.
    He won an Ig-Nobel Prize for using the magnetic properties of water to levitate small frogs in a powerful magnetic field (2000).
    He listed his pet hamster as a co-author on a research paper (2001).
    He criticized the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, arguing, 'In the past ten years, China has developed not only economically, but even the strongest human rights supporter would agree also human rights have improved. Why do we need to distort this?'

Why he might not be annoying:

    Graphene is both the thinnest and one of the strongest materials ever discovered.
    Graphene may transform the electronics industry by replacing silicon.
    He became the first (and as of 2022 only) person to win both an Ig-Nobel and a Nobel Prize, and said, 'Frankly, I value both my Ig Nobel prize and Nobel prize at the same level and for me Ig Nobel prize was the manifestation that I can take jokes. A little bit of self-deprecation always helps.'
    The discoveries that won him both the Nobel Prize and the Ig-Nobel Prize were the result of his conducting research outside his areas of expertise.
    He said, 'Better to be wrong than to be boring.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying