Scientific celebrity
A scientific celebrity or celebrity scientist or public scientist is a scientist who has gained significant public attention, usually through the media. For the general public, scientific celebrities serve to represent science or a field of science. In some instances this can be self-serving in nature or can be at the behest of governmental or corporate interests or to promote the science involved. With new scientific discoveries scientists come to be publicly known for their contributions. Although this type of recognition has become more common in recent times (coincidental with the rise of celebrity culture), the phenomenon is centuries old.