> Would Einstein and Darwin have made it through peer review? I doubt it.
What are you talking about? Einstein first outstanding contributions (in his 1905 Wunderjahr) were all published in Annalen der Physik , a peer-reviewed journal. Even years after becoming a worldwide-known name, he received rejections (which he was not too much fond of). Einstein was always part of the conventional publication system of physics,
In the history of modern science , let's say from mid 19th century on almost the entirety of solid scientific contributions have been published via the regular channels.
Einstein sent his papers to Planck, and Planck, as an editor of Annalen der Physik, decided to publish them in the journal.
Here's what Einstein had to say about the modern peer-review process in which a draft is reviewed by anonymous referees:
> We (Mr. Rosen and I) had sent you our manuscript for publication and had not authorized you to show it to specialists before it is printed. I see no reason to address the—in any case erroneous—comments of your anonymous expert. On the basis of this incident I prefer to publish the paper elsewhere.
On the other hand, Einstein was really into what we might today call post-publication peer review. A significant chunk of Einstein's publications were reviews of other scientists' publications.
No journal had anything like the modern peer review system in 1905. That system is maybe 40 years old. You can think of it as a response to the vastly bigger volume and specialization of papers.
Back then, if the editor thought the paper was decent, it got published.
Perhaps the biggest problem with peer review is that your peers are often also your competitors/rivals. Imagine if each Apple product had to be approved by Google, and vice versa.
What are you talking about? Einstein first outstanding contributions (in his 1905 Wunderjahr) were all published in Annalen der Physik , a peer-reviewed journal. Even years after becoming a worldwide-known name, he received rejections (which he was not too much fond of). Einstein was always part of the conventional publication system of physics,
Darwin , and Wallace original papers were read before the Linnean society in London and were published in its Zoology journal. You can read it here: http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F350&vie...
In the history of modern science , let's say from mid 19th century on almost the entirety of solid scientific contributions have been published via the regular channels.