[foobarbazqux]

> you are not a scientist unless other scientists agree you are

Science requires one thing: making and testing falsifiable hypotheses. A priest is able to determine whether or not you are doing that. If anything, it's philosophers who decide what science is, e.g. Karl Popper.

[luism]

Ludwig Boltzmann was a very important scientist (or perhaps I should say that his scientific contributions were significant). However, if I recall correctly, his peers didn't agree with his theories and, I would assume, they wouldn't have called his theories scientific -seeing how they basically assumed atoms in a time when that was controversial.

So, I too consider that agreement from others isn't a prerequisite for being a scientist. I also agree that "making and testing falsifiable hypotheses" definitely qualifies as doing science.

However, perhaps that's not the only way to do science. In general, there is that whole set of criticisms on the limits of falsifiability (with Kuhn et al). In particular, I'm thinking of cases where arguably the technology isn't sufficiently advanced to perform the measurements necessary to directly test the hypotheses (e.g., how quantum physics progressed). Arguably those doing all the thought experiments, modeling, thinking through consequences of those hypotheses and comparing with what they could measure were doing science -though those weren't falsifiable hypotheses at the time.

So what I'm saying is that your requisite is sufficient but perhaps isn't necessary either.

[foobarbazqux]

Oh, I think it's okay if the hypotheses are falsifiable in the future, as long as the models are not presented as experimentally verified.

[swombat]

Doing science does not make you a scientist.

[epenn]

Can you elaborate on why you believe this to be the case? Saying that a scientist is one who does science seems like a truism bordering on being tautological. I'm curious why you disagree.

[swombat]

Does knowing a bit of physics make you a physicist? Does praying make you a monk? Does mixing a few chemicals make you a chemist? Does having some theories about people's motivations make you a behavioural psychologist? Does balancing a budget make you an accountant?

"Scientist" implies a certain amount of knowledge, training, discipline, etc. I'm not implying that every scientist needs to have undergone academic training - there are other ways - but merely doing a scientific experiment is not enough to call yourself a scientist.

A scientist is one who "does science" with some knowledge, consistency and perseverance.

[seanmcdirmid]

"Scientist" is a fluffy title like "Doctor" or "Professor", conveyed by other people or authorities for classification in a hierarchical/segmented society. As a researcher, I wear many hats doing design, coding, science, writing, etc..., but my title is just "researcher" because of the role I fill professionally.

[foobarbazqux]

I guess you'd better edit Wikipedia:

> In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. [...] This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientist

[swombat]

Wikipedia is not the ultimate repository of human knowledge, particularly when it comes to more tricky questions like "what is a scientist?"...

If we're going to throw definitions around, how about dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/scientist?s=t

> an expert in science, especially one of the physical or natural sciences.

[foobarbazqux]

Actually I think Wikipedia is pretty good for tricky questions, in that they attract a lot of attention and receive a lot of edits.

If being a scientist is determined by the consensus of one's peers, it seems like it makes sense to accept an article defining what scientists are that is written as a consensus opinion.

But anyway, if you think it's wrong, why don't you edit it?

[Tichy]

I'd say doing science requires a specific mindset. Using amount of knowledge as a criterion seems wrong - how did the first scientists come about, presumably they didn't know anything at all yet?