The letter entitled "The Misery,"1 signed by a retired lawyer, has called forth conflicting emotions and thoughts, and a certain amount of dissatisfaction and discomfort in the undersigned, both devoted scientists. Although it is undeniably true that the author did succeed in bringing out some interesting arguments, in our opinion, and with all due respect, we reckon that he entirely missed the point. We won't discuss here his surely arguable statement that "getting rich takes a talent," but the fact is that most good scientists simply do not care about getting rich. In other words, "getting rich" is clearly not at the top of most good scientists' priority list.
Becoming and being a real scientist demands a strong and robust vocation, essential to confront the inevitable intense dedication required to deal with the many challenges and difficulties encountered in our daily scientific tasks. Good scientists are driven by an incurable, ...
