Plagiarism is a big area of concern that is rearing its ugly head worldwide. The act of representing someone else’s ideas, thoughts, language, or expression as original work, plagiarism not only discourages creativity, but also steals from the actual creators. In a world with artificial intelligence (AI) that we live in, more checks and balances are currently being sought after as it has become easier than ever to plagiarise.
Plagiarism, however, hasn’t been a concern just now and has probably been around for as long as ideas and expressions have been exchanged. Charges of plagiarism, when proven, can tarnish a person’s reputation, dealing them a blow from which they can probably never stand up again. On some occasions, just the charges are enough to sideline someone, even if they aren’t proven beyond doubt.
German astronomer Simon Marius was at the receiving end of one such episode over 400 years ago. This portrait of Marius appeared as a frontispiece (illustration facing the title page of a book) to the Mundus Iovialis . In addition to containing the first printed image of a telescope, it also shows Jupiter’s moons in orbit around the planet – something that Galileo didn’t include in his book.
| Photo Credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS An astronomer, mathematician, physician, and calendar maker, Simon Mayr was born in Gunzenhausen in 1573. Marius was his Latinised name for the international scientific community, as was the fashion of the times. Starts with a song The s.
