We use “good” in English to mean too many things. Case in point: James Watson, who just passed away. Good can mean “good at” something, like in the case of Watson being good at science. But “good” also means being a morally good person, which was not a widely held opinion of Watson.
Being smart is sadly a handy excuse for being selfish, dishonest, cruel, and dismissive of others, as Watson seemed to be. This article from Ars Technica isn’t the only one to remember him thus:
Their discovery heavily relied on the work of chemist and crystallographer Rosalind Franklin at King’s College in London, whose X-ray images of DNA provided critical clues to the molecule’s twisted-ladderlike architecture. One image in particular from Franklin’s lab, Photo 51, made Watson and Crick’s discovery possible. But, she was not fully credited for her contribution. The image was given to Watson and Crick without Franklin’s knowledge or consent by Maurice Wilkins, a biophysicist and colleague of Franklin.
Imagine being remembered both for DNA’s discovery and for being an intolerant, intolerable person.
In 1955, Watson joined the faculty at Harvard University, where he was unpopular. Legendary biologist E.O. Wilson, also at Harvard, famously called Watson “the most unpleasant human being I had ever met,” in his memoir, adding that “Watson radiated contempt in all directions.”
James Watson, who helped unravel DNA’s double-helix, has died - Ars Technica