What If Money Were Designed to Celebrate Science Instead of Presidents?(wired.com)

44 pointsby JohnsonRobvor 12 Jahren29 comments

What If Money Were Designed to Celebrate Science Instead of Presidents?

http://www.wired.com/2014/11/money-designed-celebrate-science-instead-presidents/

31 comments

I would be in favor of such a redesign, but the nitpicker in me wants to point out that U.S. bills don't all feature presidents.

Alexander Hamilton, on the $10 bill, was never president. Bills valued at more than $100 have not been made for some time[1], but the most recent $10,000 bill featured Salmon P. Chase, who was also never president.

[1] Not since 1945, saith Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_denominations_of_United_...

xrangevor 12 Jahren

As long as we're nitpicking, none of: Benjamin Franklin, Sacajawea, or Susan B. Anthony were president.

ggchappellvor 12 Jahren

Yes, I forgot Franklin.

The other two have only appeared on coins, no?

xrangevor 12 Jahren

Yes, coins only. The title of the article mentions "money".

glibgilvor 12 Jahren

And a peach was never president.

JohnsonRobvor 12 Jahren

We don't have politicians on most of our bank notes here in Australia either - we mostly have notable historic people: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Australian_do...

[deleted]vor 12 Jahren

worldsayshivor 12 Jahren

I imagined a much more abstract take of the title. What if 'money' was designed so that it gravitated towards achievers of scientific accomplishments rather than towards weilders of power.

Chinjutvor 12 Jahren

Not, I think, that politicians are the richest people in modern society. But, my brain went for a similar interpretation at first as well: what if economic structures were somehow redesigned so that money gravitated towards different activities than currently, changing the world's balance of wealth and thus influence? Would've been a fun article, if it existed...

mikeyousevor 12 Jahren

A former classmate of mine keeps a personal website with a section that has a very thorough list of scientists and mathematicians who appear on various currencies with full-res scans of most of his collection:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jbourj/money.htm

Osmiumvor 12 Jahren

The link's very cool, but I think it highlights the important distinction between notes that celebrate science and notes that celebrate specific scientists. Both may be worthwhile doing, but they're different things.

spectrevor 12 Jahren

Why just celebrate Science? In New Zealand our banknotes feature people famous for all kinds of achievements: $5 - Sir Edmund Hillary (Climber), $10 - Kate Sheppard (Woman's Suffrage), $50 - Sir Āpirana Ngata (Māori Culture), $100 - Lord Ernest Rutherford (Nuclear Physics).

http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/notes_and_coins/notes/

informatimagovor 12 Jahren

You mean, like Pasteur (5 francs, 1966), Berlioz (10 francs, 1972), Travail et Science (20 francs, 1939), Le Verrier (50 francs, 1945), Saint-Exupéry (50 francs, 1992), Descartes (100 francs, 1942), Gustave Eiffel (200 francs, 1995), Pascal (500 francs, 1968), Pierre et Marie Curie (500 francs, 1994)?

ISLvor 12 Jahren

And the beautiful 10-Dmark, featuring Gauss and some of his work?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:10_DM_Serie4_Vorderseite.j... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:10_DM_Serie4_Rueckseite.jp... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Mark

SoCalNS_902vor 12 Jahren

It is in Canada.

burkevor 12 Jahren

Well, it's both really; one side is a cultural or scientific icon, and the other is the Queen or a prime minister.

I am pretty proud of our $5 though: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8542/8694157272_8990e8bcca_z.j...

adambardvor 12 Jahren

Any Canadian will tell you that the space shuttle is just the thing they use to get the arm into space.

gilgoomeshvor 12 Jahren

Australia used to have mostly scientists, botanists and astronomers on our bills prior to 1990:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Australian_dol...

Now we have mostly politicians, authors and entertainers :-(

cratermoonvor 12 Jahren

I don't really care who is on the money, let's just give more of it to the scientists instead of the Presidents and other politicians.

onewaystreetvor 12 Jahren

Most people probably can't even name the presidents on the bills so it wouldn't make much difference who you put on there.

lifeisstillgoodvor 12 Jahren

It would still be all about the Benjamin's, surely ?

breadboxvor 12 Jahren

Franklin is the closest thing we have to a scientist on our currency now -- so, maybe.

jolivvor 12 Jahren

I think the man to discover conservation of charge is more than just close to a scientist :)

jonahvor 12 Jahren

I do like the inclusion of the denomination in braille.

Otherwise, they're too textural and not figurative enough.

devindotcomvor 12 Jahren

It would feel strange to me - American dollars are a uniquely American thing, created and backed by the American government. Seems right to celebrate the history of the government on there, just as it would seem right to see the Queen on some British coin, or Gandhi on an Indian bill. Scientific advances don't seem like the kind of thing that should be printed on money. Do statues, or dedications!

lotsofmangosvor 12 Jahren

Without your impressive history of scientific and technical advances, the history of your government would be a hell of a lot shorter.

lotsofmangosvor 12 Jahren

If you find that your money is already designed to celebrate science, you are probably in the UK.

We've had loads of scientists and engineers on banknotes, including Charles Darwin, Issac Newton, Matthew Boulton, James Watt, Michael Faraday, Alexander Graham Bell, Adam Smith, George Stephenson, Florence Nightingale and Christopher Wren.

Also the coins regularly have geeky stuff on them. Like the current £2 coin which features gears and circuitry with Newtons 'shoulders of giants' comment written around the edge. - https://www.thelondoncoincompany.com/coinimages/1329309475-2...

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edit - This Northern Irish £5 featuring the space shuttle is awesome and is probably the coolest Stirling note ever.

It is also in portrait like the designs suggested in the article and could well be the inspiration for them.

http://www.banknotes.com/IEN203.JPG

midhirvor 12 Jahren

That was an awesome fiver! It was also made of plastic. I remember it well.

It was recalled after the Northern Bank robbery and discontinued. The biggest bank robbery in UK and Irish history IIRC. Crazy times.

The bank is now owned by Danske, so we use Danish fivers now :p

Interestingly Belfast just agreed to name a street after John Bell. It's significant because there's a rule here about not naming streets after people. They got around it for Bell by naming it Bell's Theorem Crescent.

Pretty sure Lord Kelvin made it onto a Scottish note too.

Me, I'm all about the Punt with the stag on it.[1]

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_pound_%28Irish_coin%29#medi...

lotsofmangosvor 12 Jahren

Is doubly cool cos the stag is surfing.

blibblevor 12 Jahren

the new £50 note is pretty geeky: http://www.britishnotes.co.uk/news_and_info/news/aa01_salmon...

"I sell here, Sir, what the world desires to have: POWER"

[deleted]vor 12 Jahren