John Theodore Merz on Thomas Young (scientist)

“Thomas Young... attained equal eminence by his discoveries in connection with the undulatory theory of light, in which he was the first to assert the principle of interference, and that of transverse vibrations, and by his discovery of the key to the system of hieroglyphics. ...The remarkable fact that Young, of whom Helmholtz says that he came a generation too soon, remained scientifically unrecognised and popularly almost unknown to his countrymen, has been explained by his unfortunate manner of expression and the peculiar channels through which his labours were announced to the world. His frequently unintelligible style, his obscure and inelegant mathematics, the habitual incognito which he preserved, his modesty in replying to attacks, and his general want of method in enunciating his ideas, contrast very markedly with the writings of some of his rivals, especially in France...”

“[S]everal great names contributed, by the authority they commanded, to oppose Young's claims to originality and renown. Lord Brougham, shielded by the powerful anonymity of the 'Edinburgh Review,' and ostentatiously parading the authority of Newton, submitted the views of Young to a ruthless and unfair criticism, the popular influence of which Young probably never overcame. The great authority on optics, Brewster, who has enriched that science by such a number of experiments and observations of the first importance, never really adopted the theories of Young and Fresnel. In... the science of hieroglyphics, the authority of Bunsen decided against Young and for the Frenchman Champollion. But this decision, which did so much to obscure the merits of Young, was founded on an insufficient knowledge of the dates of Young's publications.”