October 19, 2024 at 10:33AM
A Google Scholar profile for Sir Isaac Newton, listing him as a “Professor of Physics” at MIT, has sparked curiosity due to its “verified” email note. However, this verification only confirms email, not identity, and could have been created by anyone affiliated with MIT, causing confusion among users.
### Meeting Takeaways:
1. **Isaac Newton’s Google Scholar Profile**:
– A verified email note indicates that Sir Isaac Newton has a Google Scholar profile associated with MIT, where he is listed as a “Professor of Physics.”
2. **Recent Discovery**:
– Jay Cummings, a math professor, highlighted this profile on social media, generating significant attention.
3. **Verification Confusion**:
– The term “verified” on Google Scholar only confirms the email address associated with the profile, not the identity of the profile owner.
– Unlike social media platforms where identities are generally authenticated, Google Scholar verification is limited to email confirmation.
4. **Speculations on Profile Management**:
– There is uncertainty regarding how Newton’s profile was created. It is suggested that someone affiliated with MIT could have established the profile.
5. **Similarities with Other Platforms**:
– Recent trends around “verification” on social media have caused misunderstandings, leading some to mistakenly believe that verification also assures identity authenticity when it does not.
6. **Ease of Profile Creation**:
– The process for creating a Google Scholar profile and verifying an email address is relatively simple and can be done by anyone associated with a recognized institution.
7. **Conclusion**:
– The verified email status of a historical figure like Newton on Google Scholar is not unusual, given the ease of creating such profiles; the need for clarity in understanding what “verified” means is emphasized.